Image Credit Sergio González
In this new essay from Liverpool University, you can learn more about the threats to European eels. It distils the main findings the recent paper by Dr Laura Gutierrez and Prof Rosaleen Duffy on harms, illegal wildlife trade and endangerment of the European eel.
The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a known driver of endangerment for the species; however, Dr Gutiérrez’s research found that characterising IWT as the predominant threat to eels oversimplifies a very complex issue. Findings showed the interface between legality and illegality in the catching and trading of European eels. At each operational stage of the eel business, from fishing to retail distributor legitimate actors are often engaged in illegal activities. These ‘green-collar crimes’ are environmental crimes that are committed by legally registered companies involved in illegal activities, or which use their infrastructure to facilitate illicit trade.
You can read the essay here
You can read the full paper: L. Gutierrez and R. Duffy (2023) Harms and the Illegal Wildlife Trade: Political Ecology, Green Criminology and the European Eel. Critical Criminology.