Saving Seafood

US regulators maintain fishing quota for valuable baby eels, even as Canada struggles with poaching

May 2, 2024 — U.S. regulators decided Wednesday to allow American fishermen to harvest thousands of pounds of valuable baby eels in the coming years, even as authorities have shuttered the industry in Canada while they grapple with poaching.

Baby eels, also called elvers, are harvested from rivers and streams by fishermen every spring. The tiny fish are sometimes worth more than $2,000 per pound because of their high value to Asian aquaculture companies.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission decided Wednesday that U.S. fishermen will be allowed to harvest a little less than 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) of the eels per year. That quota, which holds current levels, will stand through at least 2027 and could be extended beyond that year, the panel decided.

Read the full story at the AP

Fishing regulators say no to catching more of this most valuable species

February 6, 2024 — Fishermen who harvest one of the most valuable marine species in the U.S. hoped for permission to catch more baby eels next year, but regulators said Monday the tight restrictions that have been in place for several years are likely to stay the same.

The tiny baby eels, which are often worth more than $2,000 per pound, are also called elvers. They are a critically important link in the worldwide supply chain for Japanese food. They are harvested from rivers and streams in Maine, sold to aquaculture companies and raised to maturity, then resold as food.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission needs to set a new quota for next year and beyond because the current management plan is expiring. The commission said Monday it’s only considering one option for next year’s limit and that is a little less than 10,000 pounds (4,535 kilograms), the same the level fishermen have been allowed to catch for several years.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Baby eel fishermen on track to catch quota after short years

April 25, 2018 — PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s baby eel fishermen are on track to catch the entirety of their quota for the valuable fish after falling short in recent years.

The eels are sold to Asian aquaculture companies, and are part of the worldwide supply chain for Japanese food. Maine’s the only U.S. state with a significant fishery for the eels, called elvers, and regulators limit them to 9,688 pounds per year.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Seattle Times

 

Maine man gets 2 years in federal prison for trafficking in baby eels

October 26, 2017 — A Waldoboro man has been sentenced in federal court to serve two years in prison for his role in an East Coast scheme that trafficked in millions of dollars in poached baby eels.

Richard D. Austin, 40, pleaded guilty in April to violating the federal Lacey Act by trafficking in baby eels, or elvers. He was accused of illegally harvesting roughly $190,000 worth of elvers in Massachusetts and Virginia from 2013 to 2015 and of selling the poached elvers to dealers in Illinois and New York.

Austin is the first to be sentenced to prison time of 18 men charged as a result of the so-called “Operation Broken Glass” federal investigation. All 18 men have pleaded guilty in the scheme but only five have been sentenced so far.

Appearing Wednesday in a federal courtroom in Norfolk, Virginia, Austin was ordered to report to federal officials to begin serving his sentence on Dec. 11 at a prison not yet selected. He also was ordered to serve three years of supervised release after he completes his prison term. He was ordered to pay a special assessment off $100 but was not ordered to pay any fines or restitution.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

Maine’s lucrative baby eel fishing season ending for year

June 7, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s lucrative fishing season for baby eels is wrapping up for 2016.

The season for baby eels, also called elvers, officially ends on Tuesday. The season for fishermen who have hit their quota for the year has already ended.

The eels are sold to Asian aquaculture companies who raise them to maturity for use as food.

Fishermen in the state were allowed to catch a little less than 10,000 pounds of elvers this year. State officials said fishermen were within 400 pounds of the quota by the end of May.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe