Short-finned Eel - As Food

As Food

Short-finned eels make excellent eating and has long been esteemed as an important food in the world. Eel or unagi is popular eating in Japan. Glazed eel or unagi-no-kabayaki is grilled and steamed where unadon includes unagi. Prior to European settlement at least two Aboriginal Australian civilisations, the Gunditjmara and the Djab Wurrung from Western Victoria, farmed eels on a large scale, trading smoked eel with distant communities in return for other goods. For the Māori people of New Zealand, starved of protein after the extinction of New Zealand megafauna, the short-finned eel was a significant food resource. Present-day recreational anglers catch and eat them regularly, and New Zealand has a well-established commercial eel fishery.

The consumption of short-finned eels is a longstanding tradition in many pacific nations. New Zealand’s indigenous Maori people had a highly developed fishery for freshwater eels before the arrival of Europeans. Maori people had an extensive knowledge of the ecology of eels and harvested them through a variety of techniques. Maori are now concerned that the commercial fishery is compromising their ability to harvest short-finned eels for ceremonial purposes. Prior to European settlement at least two Aboriginal Australian civilisations, the Gunditjmara and the Djab Wurrung from Western Victoria, farmed eels on a large scale, trading smoked eel with distant communities in return for other goods. For the Māori people of New Zealand, starved of protein after the extinction of New Zealand megafauna, the short-finned eel was a significant food resource. Present-day recreational anglers catch and eat them regularly, and New Zealand has a well-established commercial eel fishery.