ELLSWORTH, Maine — 1 June 2012 – Elver fishing for 2012 came to a close at noon Thursday, but not before the price for the juvenile eels again soared to unprecedented levels.
The going price this week for the small, transparent eels was $2,600 per pound. That’s approximately three times the $891 per pound that fishermen were paid on average for their catch in 2011, which at the time was considered an astronomically high price.
Before last year, the highest average annual price elver fishermen had received for their catch was in 2007 when they earned $346 per pound, according to state statistics. The total statewide value to fishermen of the elver harvest in 2011 was $7.6 million.
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