Japan now faces a culinary crisis on two fronts: whaling and eeling.

The Japanese Eel (Anguilla japonica) – a traditional delicacy in Japan and the country’s most expensive food fish – has been listed as an endangered species due to loss of habitat, overfishing, barriers to migration, pollution and changes to oceanic currents.

The Japanese Eel has long been a delicacy and staple in Japanese cuisine; often cited as having a bevy of nutrients, minerals, and other health benefits, such as improving skin complexion.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) put the Japanese Eel on its “Red List”; adding the eel to the list of endangered species could mean a ban on the international trade and consumption of the animal.

“While the status of this species is of great concern, the assessment of the Japanese Eel and other eels is a hugely positive step,” says Dr Matthew Gollock, Chair of the IUCN Anguillid Specialist Sub-Group. “This information will allow us to prioritise conservation efforts for eel species and the freshwater ecosystem more broadly.”

East Asia is a hub for farming, trade and consumption of this species and its decline has meant that trade in other eel species, such as the Shortfin Eel has increase.

The eel population has precipitously declined over the years: in 1963, 232 tons of eel were harvested by fishermen. By the early 1970s, catches had fallen to around 100 tons; throughout the 2010s, however, the annual eel harvest in Japan came in under 10 tons per year.

In order to keep up with local demand, Japan currently imports more than 70 percent of its eels, many of which are adolescents.

The announcement by the IUCN last Thursday was the most recent in a series of setbacks to Japanese eelers. According to the Japanese Daily Press, last year a woman went eeling in the Tokyo river. After catching an eel, she sent the animal to a lab for tests. The results showed that the animal had 50 percent higher radioactive levels of cesium than allowed by the government.

As Japan struggles with its delicacies vanishing due to over harvesting and dubious fishing practices, the country must begin to find sustainable solutions to satiate its appetite for delicious, yet endangered, species.