Accelerating the Eel's recovery

Court judgements in La Roche-sur-Yon with ten convicted

On 15 December 2025, judgments were delivered by the criminal court of La Roche-sur-Yon, which resulted in the conviction of ten individuals for the illegal trafficking and handling of glass eels in the Vendée and Charente-Maritime of France. The cases followed an extended investigation that documented organised and deliberate violations of fishing regulations, including undeclared catches, breaches of quota and reporting obligations, and illegal export of glass eels to international markets. Given the status of the European eel under CITES Appendix II, these proceedings carry implications that extend beyond the individual defendants and relate directly to how lawful fishing activity is defined, monitored, and protected within the European Union.
It is important to underline that none of the individuals convicted in this case were certified under the Sustainable Eel Group’s Standard. Our certification process is designed to close the grey area between legal and illegal trade, providing assurance that fishing and trading activities are legal, environmentally responsible, and traceable.  It makes sure all parts of the supply chain are assessed through independent auditing and verification. Where certification applies, authorities, markets, and other stakeholders can rely on compliance with quotas, reporting systems, and conservation measures. This trial goes to show that where it does not, that level of assurance is absent, and the risk of unlawful or unregulated activity is substantially higher.
The trafficking network dismantled by French authorities was not so much the result of uncertainty in the regulatory framework, as of deliberate non-compliance with rules governing a fishery regulated under the EU Eel Regulation. The scale of the illegal activity, involving hundreds of kilos of glass eels, directly undermined stock recovery objectives and placed additional pressure on fishers who operate within legal limits. It also weakened confidence in regulatory systems by blurring the distinction between lawful fishing and criminal exploitation, thereby complicating enforcement and policy discussions at the national and European levels.
The European eel had undergone a severe population decline over many decades, leading to its classification as critically endangered and to the introduction of conservation and management measures across its range, and whilst there are promising signs that the population has flatlined, and started to increase since the Eel Regulation came in 2009, the time where restrictions can be relaxed and recovery declared are still a long while away. Under current regulatory conditions, continued fishing is permitted only where it can be demonstrated that impacts are controlled and monitored. Assurance systems such as the SEG Standard are intended to support this approach by providing verifiable evidence of compliance and by enabling regulators and buyers to differentiate between regulated supply chains committed to and contributing towards eel recovery and those without such systems and independent evidence.
The sentences imposed by the court, including prison terms, professional bans, confiscation measures, and financial penalties, have resulted in the continuous removal of illegal operators from the fishery and reinforced the principle that access is conditional on compliance with responsible management. Although environmental organisations, including SEG, have raised concerns that the ecological damage recognised by the court does not fully reflect the long-term impact of the offences, the enforcement action itself contributes to the effectiveness of law enforcement by addressing unlawful behaviour and supporting the credibility of compliant fisheries.
These rulings do not remove the need for collaboration between law enforcement authorities in southwestern France and northeastern Spain, nor do they represent the end of the project to identify and prosecute the ringleaders of the violent wildlife trafficking gangs operating inside the European Union. They do, however, strengthen the conditions under which lawful glass eel fishing and trade can be assessed and supervised. For the Sustainable Eel Group, the cases underline that assurance through independent certification, and collaboration with legal actors, is a necessary component of effective management, enabling separation between regulated fisheries and illegal exploitation in a context which demands a high level of trade control.
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