Using commercial and fishery data, we recount the main features and key points of the historical trade of the European eel. Glass eel fisheries have been active since the end of the 19th century with landings estimated around 200 t. Fisheries and trade developed mainly in the south of France and markets expanded progressively along the Atlantic coast during the first 30 years of the 20th century. Export of eel towards Spain is accurately reported by the railway statistics and was 531 t at its peak in 1925. The Spanish civil war closed the trade, and during the Franco regime, the trade route towards Spain, despite representing 80 % of the total volume, remained totally opaque. Demand from Japan for European glass eel began in 1969 in Europe and increased the profitability of the fishery, which by that time had already introduced push nets all along the coast. Landings in Europe peaked around 1976 at 2,700 t. From 1982 to 1995, decline in recruitment and collapse of exports to Japan made the fishery less attractive. In 1995, a surge in demand from the Chinese market on a then dwindling stock brought a large increase in prices, levelled only by the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the malachite green residues issue in 2006. Combined analyses from various source of data shows that landings are now below 100 t. The increasing profitability despite the severe decline in recruitment raises the possibility of an economic' Alee effect. This effect and the changes brought by CITES and European regulation are discussed along with the requirements needed for achieving a sustainable state in the glass eel fisheries.