2.7 tons of broiled eel dumped last year in Japan: Greenpeace

We used to eat the eels until the price went up to more than a cost of a good steak. If they lowered the price more people could afford to eat them instead of them being dumped which must be a big loss.

Big deal eels are plentiful. What else are they supposed to do with them.

Ignorance about the situation here in Japan and the HUGE amount of money that the government is putting into keeping them as a sustainable food source.

Japanese people love grilled eel and pay a lot of money for one's caught in the wild and not imported nor farmed ones.

At least 2.7 tons of broiled eels, including an endangered Japanese species, were thrown away by retailers in the country last year, Greenpeace Japan said Monday, citing the result of a survey.

I wish they would be more specific with the numbers here regarding the "Japanese species". I often see the imported one's, particularly those from China, that have the discounted tags on them, and some as cheap as 200 yen, but still few people buy them.

Farmed anything - likely unhealthy (read about it). Any food from china - no thanks. Broiled eel is so tasty - pay more, eat. Yum.

Japan once again showing its morality when it comes to the environment...

couldn't they just sell them at a lower price or donate them or something? 2.7 tons would feed a lot of people

This year will be a record low eel catch and prices are set to rocket even higher.

https://phys.org/news/2018-04-japan-eel-renewing-stock.html

I often see the imported one's, particularly those from China, that have the discounted tags on them, and some as cheap as 200 yen, but still few people buy them.

This is the problem: many people are concerned about the safety of food imported from China and are reluctant to eat Chinese-raised eel. "Who knows what they're fed on," is a common complaint. Like blue fin tuna, eels are slowly being eaten to extinction.

@Toshihiro - couldn't they just sell them at a lower price or donate them or something? 2.7 tons would feed a lot of people

Unfortunately, eel has a very short shelf life and tastes terrible if it is not fresh. This is just another case of Japan's wasteful gluttony and non-management of a seafood species. The seafood section at a supermarket is full of undersized and immature fish and I'm sure they are getting smaller year by year. The pink snapper (tai) is a very good example. It is becoming very expensive due to it being harder and harder to catch, but most the fish in the supermarkets are juvenile fish of around 20-25cm that have not bred. The flounder (hirame) is another example. The fish in the supermarkets are all juveniles. A lot of the pelagic fish like bonito and mackerel are also juvenile fish. Japan consumes most of the world's seafood, but does very little or nothing to manage fish stocks. Is it any surprise some fish species are extinct from Japanese waters? The Pacific sardine (iwashi) is extinct in the northern Japanese sea. Bonito (katsuo), king fish (buri and hamachi) and mackerel (saba) are also highly endangered in the same area due to overfishing of juvenile fish. This same area has recently become overrun by giant jellyfish due to the fry of these fish not eating the jellyfish larvae. However, this has not stopped them fishing these waters. They keep reaping (raping) the same waters for the same species and complain about the jellyfish. Stupid is as stupid does!

I wonder if there is a limit on how much supermarkets will discount food before throwing it away, basically to protect normal prices. For our main local supermarket, I do know that the half price stickers start appearing around 4:30pm. If there is a limit, perhaps supermarkets could be encouraged to lower it. I don't know what percentage of production 2.7 tons is, so it might be a lot or it might be a little.

Meanwhile all the old codgers are complaining and blaming foreign countries for "THEIR" eel running out, and they might have to do without in the next few years. Seems like it's more a custom in Japan to waste food than to eat it. I was reading up on this and some 40% of prepared foods is disposed of at supermarkets and convenience stores, which is all the more ridiculous given that Japan is not self-sustainable and imports 56% or so of their food.

Mottainai culture at its finest.

Eel to me is as special as Fugu

it's like watching a sci-fi movie about an elitist culture which wastes the world's resources to satisfy its own selfish desires.

Japan once again showing its morality when it comes to the environment...

yep.

it's like watching a sci-fi movie about an elitist culture which wastes the world's resources to satisfy its own selfish desires.

Delete the sci-fi movie part and you have it on the money

HOw empty are Japan’s waters?

The answer seems to be ....very!

I know a fisherman trying for catches a couple of hours off North Shikoku coming back with zero after 8 hour days at sea!

Is it like this all over Japan?

Don't just Japan for this waste I am sure it happens in all of the developed countries and that include the UK, I ve seen fields of carrots, cabbage, lettuce, all ploughed back into the soil, why? just because the supermarket didn't want it that day (after ordering it from the farmer) as it does not meet a regulation, IE bananas, cucumbers that are to curved or to strait, carrots that have grown a funny shape, apples that are to big, cauliflower that is not white enough ( slightly green) the list goes on and on, but I ve noticed recently that supermarkets ARE starting to sell more "out of the normal parameters" and they are a bit cheaper. most of this waste can be avoided, we just need to think how to do it and implement these strategies, it not all about cost.

This is like the cod in the North Sea all over again - fished out to danger levels... not only that, but how can eel fend off the summer heat? Does it imbue the body with special reflective powers? Does it lower the temperature of one's blood in the summer?

With such scarce food resources, it should be illegal to waste food in this way!

Agreed to all of the above re: wastefulness in Japanese society, but it's far from alone. And to be honest, 2.7 tonne doesn't seem such a huge amount considering this is nationwide, presumably, over a season. I'm sure other food processors and retailers would throw away more, and for the whole year.

@Brian Wheway - Don't just Japan for this waste I am sure it happens in all of the developed countries and that include the UK, I ve seen fields of carrots, cabbage, lettuce, all ploughed back into the soil, 

A resounding, "So what!" to that! Cabbages and carrots are not highly endangered or extinct in certain areas, are they? These eels are extinct in many areas of Japan and highly endangered in others, but that does not stop Japan catching as many as they can and then throwing a few tons away coz they can't sell it. Yes, food waste is a problem in many countries, but wasting endangered species is something specific to Japan.

Remember the movie Unagi (The Eel) 1997, Mr. Koji-san does an quiet eel thing.

@ disillusion the point i was trying to make was the waste all round, but endangered species like eel, well they need to conserve and protect them, we over fished the north Atlantic sea for cod and other fish, but the government installed strict quoters on how much fishermen could catch, thus allowing fish stocks to recover, and they have, so its not impossible for governments to protect fish levels ( or eels) Japan need to follow suit if it want to protect them.