Live eels writhe on the tarmac and someone screams in the background in a viral video showing the scene at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) after a container transporting the fish broke during handling.
The shipment had been sent from Toronto to Vancouver, Air Canada said in a statement to media, adding that the box accidentally opened while being unloaded. The incident occurred on July 7, the airport’s media relations office said.
The news went viral after
the video was posted on the social media platform X. The video shows dozens of eels wriggling on the apron surface around a plane, with more eels sliding down the ramp. Someone can be heard screaming in the background.
The eels were collected and repackaged safely, and the incident did not cause disruptions to airport operations, YVR told The Epoch Times in an email.
Air Canada said it contacted the customer about the shipment.
Air Canada Cargo can ship warm- and cold-blooded live animals, except if they are primates intended for laboratory research or experimental purposes, threatened or unsustainably traded species, or if they are related to illegal wildlife trade, according to the
company’s policies.
Ontario
requires a special licence to transport live fish taken from the province’s waters, unless they are baitfish. In British Columbia, importing live wildlife
requires a permit, as does the possession and transport of live fish in the province.
Eels are a type of fish with a long, snake-like body and fins that extend along their body. Two of the most common eel species in Canada are of conservation concern.
The American eel (Anguilla rostrata), mostly found in Eastern Canada, is currently listed as threatened in the province of Ontario and by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. A
decision is pending on whether to include it on the list of wildlife species at risk.
The European eel (Anguilla anguilla), less common than the American eel, has
protection status under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) wildlife protection agreement. The species is threatened with extinction and its commercial trade is prohibited, says CITES.
Air Canada did not respond by the time of publication to an inquiry about the species of the spilled eels or the reason for the shipment.
