June 7, 2018 — More than 60 fishermen told an interstate marine fisheries official Wednesday that Maine’s annual baby eel catch limit should be raised because there are “plenty” of eels in Maine — even though Maine once again finds itself having to address the issue of ongoing poaching in the fishery.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering whether to raise the state’s baby eel quota, also known as elvers, from 9,688 pounds to 11,749 pounds. It held a hearing on the topic Wednesday in Brewer and plans to hold another in Augusta on Thursday, June 7.
With fishermen earning more than $2,300 per pound for their catch this spring, the 2,000-pound difference could mean as much as $4.8 million in additional revenue for the statewide fishery.
The value of the statewide catch this spring is estimated to be $21.7 million, which is the third-highest annual landings value ever for the fishery, and the highest since Maine adopted a statewide catch limit in 2014.
“We don’t believe at all the [American eel] population is depleted,” John Banks, director of natural resources for the Penobscot Indian Nation, told commission official Kirby Rootes-Murdy. “We’re hearing from [harvesters in] the field that this population is not in trouble at all.”
Patrick Keliher, commissioner of Maine Department of Marine Resources, said Wednesday that the way the 2018 elver fishing season ended last month “didn’t help” the argument in favor of increasing Maine’s quota.
The department abruptly ended the season on May 24, when the statewide catch was still 500 pounds below its 9,688-pound quota, after Marine Patrol discovered that some licensed dealers had been engaged in illegal, under-the-table cash transactions for the lucrative eels. State law prohibits cash transactions and requires all sales to be recorded with a electronic swipe-card system that charts each fisherman’s catch and each dealer’s purchases.