Current:Home > NewsWriggling gold: Fishermen who catch baby eels for $2,000 a pound hope for many years of fishing -MoneySpot
Wriggling gold: Fishermen who catch baby eels for $2,000 a pound hope for many years of fishing
View
Date:2025-04-13 16:31:46
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — They’re wriggly, they’re gross and they’re worth more than $2,000 a pound. And soon, fishermen might be able to catch thousands of pounds of them for years to come.
Baby eels, also called elvers, are likely the most valuable fish in the United States on a per-pound basis - worth orders of magnitude more money at the docks than lobsters, scallops or salmon. That’s because they’re vitally important to the worldwide supply chain for Japanese food.
The tiny fish, which weigh only a few grams, are harvested by fishermen using nets in rivers and streams. The only state in the country with a significant elver catch is Maine, where fishermen have voiced concerns in recent months about the possibility of a cut to the fishery’s strict quota system.
But an interstate regulatory board that controls the fishery has released a plan to potentially keep the elver quota at its current level of a little less than 10,000 pounds a year with no sunset date. Fishermen who have spent years touting the sustainability of the fishery are pulling for approval, said Darrell Young, a director of the Maine Elver Fishermen Association.
“Just let ‘er go and let us fish,” Young said. “They should do that because we’ve done everything they’ve asked, above and beyond.”
A board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is scheduled to vote on a new quota system for the eel fishery May 1. The board could also extend the current quota for three years.
The eels are sold as seed stock to Asian aquaculture companies that raise them to maturity so they can be used as food, such as kabayaki, a dish of marinated, grilled eel. Some of the fish eventually return to the U.S. where they are sold at sushi restaurants.
The eels were worth $2,009 a pound last year — more than 400 times more than lobster, Maine’s signature seafood. Maine has had an elver fishery for decades, but the state’s eels became more valuable in the early 2010s, in part, because foreign sources dried up. The European eel is listed as more critically endangered than the American eel by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, though some environmental groups have pushed for greater conservation in the U.S.
Since booming in value, elvers have become the second most valuable fish species in Maine in terms of total value. The state has instituted numerous new controls to try to thwart poaching, which has emerged as a major concern as the eels have increased in value.
The elver quota remaining at current levels reflects “strong management measures we’ve instituted here in Maine,” said Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, earlier this month. A quota cut “could have been a loss of millions of dollars in income for Maine’s elver industry,” he said.
This year’s elver season starts next week. Catching the elvers is difficult and involves setting up large nets in Maine’s cold rivers and streams at pre-dawn hours.
But that hasn’t stopped new fishermen from trying their hand in the lucrative business. The state awards to right to apply for an elver license via a lottery, and this year more than 4,500 applicants applied for just 16 available licenses.
veryGood! (732)
Related
- The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
- Can Planting a Trillion Trees Stop Climate Change? Scientists Say it’s a Lot More Complicated
- 'You forget to eat': How Ozempic went from diabetes medicine to blockbuster diet drug
- This Week in Clean Economy: Cost of Going Solar Is Dropping Fast, State Study Finds
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- A smart move on tax day: Sign up for health insurance using your state's tax forms
- Top CDC Health and Climate Scientist Files Whistleblower Complaint
- Sherri Shepherd tributes 'The View' co-creator Bill Geddie: 'He absolutely changed my life'
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Ticks! Ick! The latest science on the red meat allergy caused by some tick bites
Ranking
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Carmelo Anthony Announces Retirement From NBA After 19 Seasons
- Jessica Alba Shares Sweet Selfie With Husband Cash Warren on Their 15th Anniversary
- ‘A Death Spiral for Research’: Arctic Scientists Worried as Alaska Universities Face 40% Funding Cut
- Pregnant Kylie Kelce Shares Hilarious Question Her Daughter Asked Jason Kelce Amid Rising Fame
- Review: 'Yellowstone' creator's 'Lioness' misses the point of a good spy thriller
- Save 50% On These Top-Rated Slides That Make Amazon Shoppers Feel Like They’re Walking on Clouds
- Sherri Shepherd tributes 'The View' co-creator Bill Geddie: 'He absolutely changed my life'
Recommendation
The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
Claire Holt Reveals Pregnancy With Baby No. 3 on Cannes Red Carpet
Biden Names Ocasio-Cortez, Kerry to Lead His Climate Task Force, Bridging Democrats’ Divide
What does it take to be an armored truck guard?
Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
Collapsed section of Interstate 95 to reopen in 2 weeks, Gov. Josh Shapiro says
Tiffany Haddish opens up about 2021 breakup with Common: It 'wasn't mutual'
Keystone XL: Low Oil Prices, Tar Sands Pullout Could Kill Pipeline Plan