Saving Seafood

P.E.I. eel fishermen want 2-week season delay

August 31, 2015 — P.E.I. eel fishermen say they need a later start to the season to avoid finding dead eels in their nets.

The problem is the water in the warm rivers is anoxic, the result of decaying sea lettuce stripping all the oxygen out of the water.

“Eels get in the net and if the water where the net is goes anoxic, then they can’t get out and they succumb,” said Bruce Raymond of the Department of Environment.

The issue is becoming an annual problem that fishermen want to avoid.

“The first day, fellas on the river lost the whole catch, as far as four to 500 pounds on that day. It’s way too much to be throwing away. You never gain that back,” said L and C Fisheries president Calvin Jollimore.

Read the full story at CBC News

 

 

Maine elver fishermen to have same quota next season

August 14, 2015 — The following is an excerpt from a story published yesterday by the Associated Press, appearing in the Portland Press Herald:

Maine’s elver fishermen will have the same quota next spring when they fish for the valuable baby eels.

The fishermen are dealing with fluctuating volume and value in a fishery that exploded in interest early this decade. Elvers are sold to Asian aquaculture companies that raise them to maturity and use them as food, including sushi. Maine’s fishery for elvers is by far the biggest in the country, and the eels have become more valuable in recent years largely because of a sharp decline in their population across Europe in the 1990s.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which manages elver fishing, met earlier this month to discuss the fishery. There was no discussion of the possibility of changing the quota, which will remain in effect through 2017, when it will be re-evaluated, a spokeswoman said.

The quota system and Maine’s swipe card tracking system have been valuable tools to manage the fishery, said David Allen, a member of the commission’s American Eel Advisory Panel.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

Maine elver fishery rebounded despite weather

June 23, 2015 — MAINE — This year’s catch of elvers was valued nearly $3 million over the 2014 catch, but still a far cry from the record levels recorded in 2012.

The 2015 Maine elver harvest season, which ended May 31, recorded $11,389,864 for the season, significantly higher than 2014’s $8,474,302, according to updated data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources. In 2012, the catch of 21,000 pounds of baby eels was valued at $40.3 million.

Total pounds landed in 2015 were 5,242 compared to 9,688 in 2014.

The lower volume of landings was partially attributable to the weather. The cold spring slowed the migration of elvers and the lack of precipitation lowered water levels in streams and rivers, which complicated the catch, according to a release from the DMR. There are 920 active elver harvesters in the state.

Read the full story at Portland Press Herald