Haiti's Criminal Networks Profit Millions from Endangered Baby Eel Trafficking to Asian Markets

The European Union and Panama are pushing for CITES to restrict all eel trade to protect both American and European species.

Haiti's criminal gangs have discovered a profitable revenue stream through the trade of baby eels, captured from the country's waterways and exported internationally for substantial sums.

Experts caution that Asian demand for these translucent, worm-like creatures with minimal eye development is significantly funding the criminal organizations that have brought terror to Haiti.

In Haitian creole, these glass eels are called "Zangi." They migrate annually from the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic to coastal areas, including those of Hispaniola island, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

These eels enter river systems where they develop before eventually returning to the ocean for reproduction.

While European eel trade has been strictly regulated since 2009 under the CITES convention on endangered species, American eel trade remains unregulated.

Nevertheless, American eels appear on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species as endangered, primarily due to overfishing. Commercial farms cannot breed them in captivity.

These eels supply farms where they're grown for sale in Asian markets, where they're considered a premium delicacy.

According to CITES, Haiti and the Dominican Republic have emerged as major exporters of American eels in recent years.

The EU and Panama are advocating for CITES to limit trade of all eels to protect both American and European species, which are visually indistinguishable, from being mislabeled and shipped to Asia.

Natural Resources Minister Vernet Joseph told AFP that if this proposal is adopted at the upcoming meeting in Uzbekistan beginning November 24, "it will certainly penalize several stakeholders—exporters in particular—as well as poor and vulnerable small-scale fishermen" in Haiti.

To preserve the species, Haiti—not a CITES member—has implemented a "modest approach" by significantly reducing harvest volumes, while acknowledging limited reliable data on the species' exploitation.

Haiti's glass eel industry focuses exclusively on export, is not "organized" and lacks "clear and reliable data—whether at the level of fishermen or the government," an environmental activist told AFP anonymously.

"It's a sector like the Mafia."

Ghada Waly, the outgoing head of the UN's drugs and crime office, warned "there is growing evidence that several Haitian nationals are part of a wider criminal network connected to lucrative eel trafficking, operating in Haiti and beyond."

Evidence indicated "powerful political and economic figures in Haiti use the eel industry to launder drug profits," she added.

UN sanctions enforcement experts have intensified their monitoring of the entire supply chain, from fishermen to airlines.

Their October report criticized how the opaque and unregulated sector created "an ideal environment for criminals to launder money."

While fishing licenses fall under government responsibility, inadequate controls facilitate money laundering, gang extortion of fishermen and couriers, with contraband often inserted into outbound shipments, according to the experts.

Though reliable data is limited, experts reference a 2009 government estimate suggesting an export "capacity" of 800 tonnes—sufficient to make the trade extremely profitable.

One gram of exported Haitian eels—containing seven to ten specimens—sells for between $3.60 and $4.50, with fishermen receiving between 50 cents and $1.50 per kilogram.

Although fishermen receive only a fraction of the eels' market value, their earnings remain significant and attractive during Haiti's profound crisis.

Between fall and spring, these fishermen "spend 12 hours in challenging conditions, barefoot in the waters of the river mouths, from 6 pm until sunrise—all without appropriate kit," according to the environmental campaigner.

To capture the tiny, transparent fish, fishermen typically use mosquito nets attached to wooden frames.

A fisherman in Bas-Limbe anonymously informed the UN sanctions report authors that it was "every man for himself" and that he had witnessed hundreds hospitalized for various ailments including infections.

The campaigner suggested "it would be better to put an end to eel fishing and help supply fishing communities with equipment to catch other species of seafood."