6/8
1 tonne of rescued, healthy eels could die simply because authorisation is withheld. That’s a species on the edge, destroyed by inaction.

@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030
#AgriFish

SEGs Failure

Should this be allowed in the River Severn?
Critically endangered glass eels trapped, exhausted, and left to die.
This isn’t an accident — it’s an environmental failure.

@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030 @DefraGovUK
@CITES
@EnvAgency

SEGs Shield

The Sustainable Eel Group (SEG) presents itself as a conservation body.
In reality, it functions as a PR shield for continued exploitation of a critically endangered species.

#EelDeal2030
#SaveTheEels
#Greenwashing

SEGs Collapse

SEG isn’t a watchdog. Funded by the eel trade, run by commercial interests and closed governance.

Eels are Critically Endangered. Science says zero catch. SEG says keep fishing, eating and exporting. That’s collapse.

#EelDeal2030

SEGs Partner

Dupan’s attack on ICES is political, selective, and economically self-interested.
ICES’s guidance remains clear, consistent, and science-driven.
If Europe truly wants eels to survive, it must follow the science—not financial interests.

#EelDeal2030

SEGs Deception

“After repeated failures—ISEAL suspension, court appearances, and lapsed certifications etc —the Sustainable Eel Group has gone into hiding. This exposes their false claims and a fake system built on deception.”

#EelDeal2030
#EelGate
#SaveTheEels
#Eelwashing

SEGs Myth

“Sustainable eel” is a myth.
There is no captive-bred eel.
Every farmed eel starts life ripped from the wild as a glass eel — often from critically endangered stocks — then laundered through certification and sold with a clean conscience.

#EelDeal2030
@DefraGovUK

9/9
This isn’t sustainability—it’s certification capture. When industry designs, funds, and benefits from a “green” label, it’s greenwashing. The system protects Europe’s eel trade, not the eel.

#EelDeal2030
@DEFRAUk
#Traceability
@ISEALAlliance
#SaveTheEels

8/9
This isn’t independence. It’s circular control: industry funds SEG, shapes its rules, pays for certificates, and uses the label to justify continued eel exploitation

@DavidBunt1
@WillemDekker
@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030

4/9
The system runs on annual self-reporting. Critics say it invites abuse: inflated restocking figures, buried mortality, selective data. Independent population recovery is not required.

@ISEALalliance
#EelDeal2030
#AgriFish

8/13
Instead of transparency, the response is to restrict all elver fishers — using vague claims and implied blame — over losses involving a critically endangered species.
That is not conservation. That is deflection.

@EnvAgency
#EelDeal2030
@NaturalEngland

5/5
How can you wait 2 years after a certificate already expired to audit it?
SEG should be called out for marking expired certificates PASSED and misleading the public.
Greenwashing isn’t a bug — it’s how they cash in on extinction.

@DavidBunt1
@WillemDekker
#EelDeal2030

2/5
This certificate covers:
   •   Core requirements
   •   Eel buying & trading
   •   Processing/wholesale/retail
Responsibility score: 70%.
Meanwhile, the European eel is critically endangered, yet SEG calls this 70%“responsible.”

#EelDeal2030
@EU_ENV
@EUCouncil

12/13
A certification that cannot enforce, track, or ensure transparency is not a safeguard. It is a paper shield — functionally worthless, dangerously misleading, and insufficient to prevent overfishing of one of Europe’s most threatened species.
#EelDeal2030 @EUCouncil

2/13
A “sustainability” standard riddled with lapsed and expired approvals, still listed as “passed.” The European eel is critically endangered and shows no recovery. This is a full-blown crisis in oversight, mismanagement, and accountability failure.
@ISEALAlliance #EelDeal2030

4/5
SEG says illegality rises without certification.
If traffickers were certified, their entire assurance model collapses.

@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030
@DEFRAUK
#EelGate
#SaveTheEels
#Greenwashing
@ICESmarine

2/5
It is claimed that some of the convicted men appear on SEG’s own certificate registers (e.g. SEG-0081, SEG-0091).
SEG has not explained this.

@EU_MARE
@EU_ENV
@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030

2/6
Millions of eels are unaccounted for annually. You could buy a “certified” eel and have no way of knowing where it came from. SEG protects paperwork, not the oceans.

@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030
#AgriFish

8/10
SEG cannot credibly claim to champion eel protection while failing basic standards of governance, oversight, and certification management within its own organisation.

@EU_ENV
@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030

4/10
SEG promotes itself as a leader in eel sustainability, yet its own certification records are incorrect and misleading. That is not a minor oversight — it directly undermines confidence in every claim they make.

@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030
#AgriFish

3/10
The Sustainable Eel Group (SEG) is currently displaying certifications as “PASSED” even though they are EXPIRED:
SEG-0075 – expired 28 Dec 2025
SEG-0026 – expired 20 Dec 2025

@EU_ENV
@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030

7/7
This is proof the SEG certificate means nothing.
It clearly shows commercial interests outweigh actual restocking, undermining claims of sustainability and conservation.

@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030
@DEFRA
@CITES

6/7
How is this even legal when 29.5% of the quota – nearly 1/3 of eels – were not restocked?
Regulations are meant to protect wild populations, yet profit-driven farming continues unchecked, leaving the “sustainable” label in tatters.

@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030
#AgriFish

SEGs Reality Check

1/7
In 2025, only 70.5% of the French marine eel quota was actually restocked.
That leaves 29.5% of the quota – about 10 tons – not restocked, despite healthy glass eel numbers in estuaries.

#EelDeal2030
@DanSaladinoUK
@EUCommission @EUCouncil

9/9
The French “restocking” system is basically greenwashing —it keeps the glass eel industry running, supports consumption, and allows huge profits to keep flowing, while most of the eels set aside for restocking never survive

@DavidBunt1
@WillemDekker
@CostasKadis
#EelDeal2030

2/9
Even with best practices, these nets cause injuries like skin abrasions and tail damage. The Sustainable Eel Group certifies this method as “sustainable”, despite the huge casualties seen in released glass eels.

@EU_ENV
@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030

12/12
If this continues, the European eel could vanish within our lifetime. Scientists warn we may already be past the point of no return.
Stop eating them. Extinction is not a delicacy.

#ICES
@DavidBunt1
@WillemDekker
#EelDeal2030

5/12
And SEG itself admits this: on its own website, SEG warns buyers they must independently verify the sustainability of any eel they purchase. A massive red flag ignored by restaurants.

#EelDeal2030
#AgriFish @EUCouncil
@ICES_ASC

3/12
The species is spiraling due to overfishing, pollution, habitat fragmentation, dams, and climate change. But experts agree: the commercial trade, legal and illegal, is now the biggest force blocking any recovery.

@EU_ENV
@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030

6/8
When a leading eel scientist says nothing is improving anywhere that matters, that is an admission: the European eel is not recovering.

@ISEALAlliance
#EelDeal2030
#AgriFish