Determining whether even processed eel is from European or other, less threatened, stock will be possible after scientists at the Swedish Museum of Natural History have found the unique mitochondrial DNA of the Anguilla anguilla (European eel).
The trade with European eel, listed and protected by the UN threatened species convention, is restricted, and a new recovery plan is underway this spring in the EU. It is difficult, however, to tell the Anguilla anguilla from 14 eel other species in the world, especially when it is the earlier development stages or, even worse, when it is smoked, chopped, minced, cooked, or prepared in any other way.
This has tempted traders to re-label European eel with a false origin, but the Swedish DNA findings have now provided Customs agencies with a new tool to pinpoint the true origin of the product.