UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Gangs in Haiti are profiting from a lucrative trade in baby eels caught in the crime-ridden country’s rivers and estuaries and sold abroad for thousands of dollars.

Demand for the worm-like creatures with dots for eyes comes largely from Asia and is filling the coffers of the criminal organizations terrorizing Haiti, experts warn.

Known in Haitian creole as “Zangi,” the glass eels drift each year from the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic to the ocean’s coasts — including along the coasts of the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

They infiltrate the rivers where they grow until they return to sea to reproduce.

The global trade of European eels has been strictly controlled since 2009 by the CITES convention on endangered species, but the trade of American eels is not.

They are, however, classed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species — primarily due to overfishing of the species which commercial fish farms cannot breed in captivity.

They are used to supply farms where they are fattened up for sale in Asia where eels are a delicacy.

Haiti along with the Dominican Republic has become a key exporter of American eels in recent years, CITES says.

To protect American and European eels, indistinguishable to the naked eye, from continuing to be shipped to Asia under false labels, the European Union and Panama want CITES to restrict the trade of all eels.

If their move is adopted at a meeting in Uzbekistan starting on 24 November “it will certainly penalize several stakeholders — exporters in particular — as well as poor and vulnerable small-scale fishermen” in Haiti, Natural Resources Minister Vernet Joseph told S.

To protect the species, Haiti — which is not a party to CITES — has implemented a “modest approach,” significantly reducing the overall harvest.