TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese eel, a popular summertime delicacy that has become prohibitively expensive due to overfishing, has been put on the international conservation “red list” in a move that may speed up Japan’s push for industrial farming of the species.

Japan’s agriculture minister urged that efforts to boost the eel population be stepped up after the International Union for Conservation of Nature this week designated the Japanese eel as “endangered,” or facing a very high risk of extinction.