Saving Seafood

Wriggling gold: Fishermen who catch baby eels for $2,000 a pound hope for many years of fishing

March 14, 2024 — 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.

Read the full article at ABC News

MAINE: Board votes to consider raising quota of valuable baby eels that Maine fisherman can catch

August 2, 2023 — Regulators voted Tuesday to consider raising the amount of a valuable baby eel that can be harvested from Maine’s waterways, though conservationists say the eel populations are declining and need better protection.

A board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, an interstate regulatory panel that manages the baby eel fishing industry and other fisheries, voted unanimously to consider raising the total annual quota of slightly less than 10,000 pounds (4,535 kilograms) of the tiny eels that has been in place for nearly a decade.

The eels are typically worth more than $2,000 per pound because of their value to Asian aquaculture companies, which raise them to maturity and sell them for use in Japanese restaurants around the world.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

The First Eel Aquaculture Farm In The U.S. Is Raising Elvers For The American Sushi Market

April 19, 2023 — If you’ve eaten at a sushi restaurant, you might have come across eel on the menu. But did you know that most eel which makes its way to plates in America is caught here and raised overseas?

American Unagi raises the fish in Maine as the only land-based eel aquaculture company in the United States. They source eels from local harvesters in Maine and grow them in a recirculating aquaculture system on the Waldoboro coast. It’s done without hormones or antibiotics … or eels shipped across the world as tiny, clear, toothpick-sized juveniles and brought back as adults.

The company wrapped up construction on a $10 million, 27,000-square-foot facility in January to expand production of American eel to more than 500,000 pounds a year (or about 2 million eels).

Read the full article at Forbes

ASMFC 2017 Summer Meeting Final Agenda and Meeting Materials Now Available

July 18, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The final agenda and meeting materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2017 Summer Meeting are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2017-summer-meeting; click on the relevant Board/Committee name to access the documents for that Board/Committee.  For ease of access, all Board meeting documents have been combined into two documents – Main Meeting Materials 1 and Main Meeting Materials 2. Main Meeting Materials 1 includes all meeting materials for August 1 through the American Eel Board on August 2, while Main Meeting Materials 2 includes Atlantic Menhaden Board materials and all meeting materials through August 3.

The agenda is subject to change. The agenda reflects the current estimate of time required for scheduled meetings. The Commission may adjust this agenda in accordance with the actual duration of meetings. Interested parties should anticipate meetings starting earlier or later than indicated herein.

Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning August 1st at 9:45 a.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 4:30 p.m.) on Thursday, August 3rd. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board/section deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. No comments or questions will be accepted via the webinar. Should technical difficulties arise while streaming the broadcast the boards/sections will continue their deliberations without interruption. We will attempt to resume the broadcast as soon as possible. Please go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3016985523909460737 to register.

As a reminder, the guidelines for submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action) are as follows: 

1.   Comments received 3 weeks prior to the start of a meeting week will be included with the main meeting materials.

2.   Comments received by 5:00 PM on the Tuesday immediately preceding the scheduled ASMFC Meeting (in this case, the Tuesday deadline will be July 25, 2017) will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting and a limited number of copies will be provided at the meeting.

3.   Following the Tuesday, July 25, 2017 5:00 PM deadline, the commenter will be responsible for distributing the information to the management board prior to the board meeting or providing enough copies for the management board consideration at the meeting (a minimum of 50 copies).

The submitted comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.  As with other public comment, it will be accepted via mail, fax, and email.