Overview
- Six autonomous communities — Asturias, Galicia, Cantabria, Murcia, the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands — opposed the ministry’s proposal as others abstained, so the listing failed at the Flora and Fauna Committee.
- The committee created a joint central–regional working group to examine population data, existing management plans and potential new measures before any final decision.
- Scientific advisers including Spain’s Comité Científico, ICES and the IUCN have long urged stronger protection, citing a roughly 90% drop in eel numbers and status outside biological safety limits.
- A national listing would have banned capture, trade and habitat damage and required recovery plans, effectively ending legal fisheries for eel and juvenile angula.
- Regional officials cited socioeconomic impacts and culinary traditions in arguing against a ban, while the ministry said it will keep pursuing protection and experts called for coordinated EU action to address fishing pressure and illegal trade.