The “Anguilla anguilla”, commonly known as the European eel, is a teleost fish of the Anguillidae family. In some Italian regions, the large female (up to one and a half meters long) is called capitone, while the juvenile, thin and transparent (40–60 mm), is called ceca.
Eating eel, or capitone if you prefer, is an indispensable tradition in many regions of Italy, especially in the Centre-Southwhere this fish comes from kept alive at home until cooking for Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve dinner.
But is it really right to let eel end up on the menu? Although it has an appearance that some find disturbing and blood of a different temperature than ours, this aquatic creature certainly deserves our compassion and empathy. Aren’t we all better at Christmas? Let’s try it, starting with the holiday table and lunch. Saving animal lives, including eels, could be an excellent action.
And it is possible to do so without giving up the pleasure of good food. Here, then, 5 good reasons not to eat eel during the Christmas holidays.
They are very fat
For starters, eel has a lot of fat, as much as 25%, and consequently a lot of calories. It is certainly not the ideal dish for those who don’t want to deal with extra pounds after the holidays.
They are at risk of extinction
The European eel is classified as “critically endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, indicating an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Since 1980, the number of young eels reaching European shores has plummeted to between 1% and 5% of previous levels.
They are often fished in polluted areas
One of the areas where eels are fished, for example, is the mouth of the Sarno river, one of the most polluted waterways in Europe. This is because they are among the few fish that can survive in these contaminated areas.
They are raised and kept in confined spaces
Are natural basins becoming depopulated? He comes to the rescueaquaculture, where all farmed fish are grown in small overpopulated tanks, where animals cannot express their natural behavior and instincts and spend their lives in atrocious suffering. Even when they are sold they continue to be kept in small basins for days and days.
They die in atrocious suffering
To kill the eel, it reads on one of the many food blogs taken at random, it is necessary “take it, holding it tightly with one hand by the tail and another by the neck, then slam her head on the marble until she is dead. Alternatively you should throw them still alive into a pot full of boiling water or decapitate them with a sharp cut in the head“.
Eel and capitone: are they the same thing?
The reference to the sex of these fish, whose name derives from Latin anguis (snake, in Italian), is fundamental to understanding a common error linked to their identification.
In reality, eel and capitone are similar, but not quite the same thing. In short, the eel is generally the male (or at least the fish before it has reached sexual maturity), while the eel is the female. The differences are also noticeable in the dimensions: the eel is smaller, with a length of around 60 cm and a weight of 200-300 grams. The capitone, on the other hand, can reach up to one and a half meters in length and weigh up to 6 kg.
This distinction may be interesting, but it may not be relevant this Christmas. This year, in fact, we can give a gift to the environment by choosing to give up stewed eel, capitone and even fry (the young eels). A simple but significant gesture for the protection of an endangered species.
The chefs’ appeal
Also for Christmas 2024, starred chef Mauro Colagreco renews his appeal to exclude eel from festive menus, underlining the urgency of saving this species from extinction. The European eel (Eel eel), in fact, is classified by the IUCN as a critically endangered species, with a 90% decline in the population in the last twenty years. Intensive fishing, pollution, habitat destruction and obstacles to migration threaten their survival.
Colagreco, UNESCO ambassador for biodiversity, launched a video appeal inviting people to give up the consumption of eel to allow the repopulation of the species. This commitment is shared by the World Culinary Council of Relais & Châteaux, which has removed eel from the menus of its restaurants.
The chefs, in collaboration with Ethic Ocean, are calling for concrete actions to protect this species, a symbol of unsustainable consumption. The initiative also aims to promote alternatives such as cultured eel meat, developed in the laboratory by startups such as Forsea Foods, an alternative that could reduce pressure on the species within a few years.
Giving up eel is not just a symbolic gesture for Christmas, but a step towards a more sustainable gastronomy, capable of respecting the environment and species at risk.
