Saving Seafood

Maine’s eel season, delayed by virus, finally gets started

March 30, 2020 — Maine fishermen are expected to begin the state’s lucrative harvest of baby eels on Monday after the coronavirus outbreak forced the season to be delayed.

Maine fishermen catch the eels, called elvers, in rivers and streams every spring. They’re often worth more than $2,000 per pound, as they’re an important part of the worldwide supply chain for Japanese food.

Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher suspended the fishery earlier this month. It ordinarily would have started on March 22. Keliher said at the time that aspects of the fishery made it difficult to maintain social distancing and help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine’s Elver Fishery Rules Relaxed To Protect Industry During Coronavirus Pandemic

March 27, 2020 — State regulators are relaxing some rules for Maine’s valuable elver fishery, in order to get the delayed season underway while maintaining safe practices during the coronavirus pandemic.

Licensed fishermen will be able to harvest not only their own quotas, but those of others as well, and to bring them all to dealers. The goal, says Department of Marine Resources spokesman Jeff Nichols, is to reduce the number of people involved on a daily basis.

“So that will reduce the number of harvesters on the banks and at the shops where they’re sold,” Nichols says. “At the same time dealers have agreed to a set of guidelines intended to provide protection at the shops.”

Read the full story at Maine Public

Maine’s elver fishery to reopen with more safety protocols to limit spread of COVID-19

March 27, 2020 — Maine’s elver fishing season is back on.

The Department of Marine Resources made the announcement Thursday night that fishermen could cast their nets next Monday, starting at 8 in the morning.

The department initially shut down the season Sunday – for a minimum of two weeks.

But, now officials have put some safety protocols into place to open up sooner.

Licensed elver harvesters may fish for and sell the quota of another licensed harvester.

Read the full story at WABI

Maine closes elver fishery, requests federal assistance due to COVID-19 impacts

March 24, 2020 — The U.S. state of Maine is requesting federal aid due to the ongoing impacts the COVID-19 outbreak is having on its fisheries.

Maine’s governor, Janet Mills, recently sent a letter to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump requesting federal assistance for the state’s seafood industry as trade disruptions and restaurant closures affect the state’s valuable lobster fishery, which was worth USD 485 million (EUR 451.4 million) in 2019. The fishery has been heavily impacted by the ongoing pandemic as demand for lobsters has plummeted.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Delay of Maine’s elver season is the latest hit to state’s fishing industry from coronavirus

March 23, 2020 — The start of Maine’s annual, multi-million dollar commercial baby eel season, which had been scheduled to start Sunday, is being delayed for at least two weeks due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. It’s the latest example of the sizable economic hit Maine’s fishermen are taking as the global pandemic shuts down much of daily life.

The fishery might open on April 5, depending on the status of the outbreak, state officials said. In each of the past two years, Maine’s 10-week fishing season for baby eels — also known as “glass” eels or elvers — has generated totals of more than $20 million in statewide landings revenue for roughly 1,000 licensed elver fishermen.

“Portions of the elver fishery make it impossible to follow social distancing recommendations, including maintaining 6 feet from other people to reduce the spread of this disease,” Patrick Keliher, commissioner of Maine Department of Marine Resources, said Saturday. He added that, while he recognizes that the closure of the fishery may be “devastating” to people who rely on it, “the safety of our fishermen and their communities is our primary concern.”

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Coronavirus concerns push back Maine elver season

March 20, 2020 — Maine is delaying the start of its $20 million elver fishery for at least two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The 11-week fishing season was set to begin on Sunday, but Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Pat Keliher decided to close the fishery for now to avoid the kind of crowded conditions on Maine’s rivers and in fishing shops that have become a hallmark of elver fishing season.

“The coronavirus pandemic continues to impact Maine’s fisheries in ways we could not have imagined,” Keliher said Friday. “It has become clear that the typical crowded conditions could not only allow transmission, but also speed the spread of the disease throughout the state as fishermen traveled along the coast to harvest and sell elvers.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

COVID-19 hits seafood markets in Australia, Japan, US

March 17, 2020 — The full financial effects of the coronavirus outbreak are starting to become apparent in seafood markets across the globe, reports American Shipper.

In Australia, for instance, a fisheries and aquaculture sector very dependent on Chinese seafood demand is likely to see a decline in earnings of $389 million due to the excess product that traders are unable to send to the country.

It’s a similar issue in Canada, where the previously booming trade of live Atlantic lobsters to China has ground to a halt after both China and other nearby Asian countries stopped accepting deliveries from seafood shipping companies.

Likewise, the trade of baby eels, or elvers, from Maine in the US to China is also at a standstill — bad news for a $168m industry nearly entirely dependent on the trade route for its custom.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Nine Mainers win a new elver license out of over 3,600 applicants

March 4, 2020 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources announced that it has officially awarded nine elver licenses that were available to eligible residents of the state, out of more than 3,600 applicants to the license.

The massive number of applicants is likely thanks to high price that elvers – the juvenile form of eels – has commanded in recent years. Last year, the season starting on 22 March kicked off with values of over USD 2,500 (EUR 2,237) per pound, with the season-long average sitting at USD 2,000 (EUR 1,790) per pound.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MAINE: Elver license lottery: Big prize for a lucky few

January 23, 2020 — Want to get rich quick, or at least have a chance to earn a nice piece of change?

Last Thursday, the Department of Marine Resources opened a lottery that will give nine lucky winners the chance to apply for elver fishing licenses for the upcoming season. The lottery runs until 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21. The 10-week elver season starts March 22 and runs through June 7.

An elver fishing license isn’t worth its weight in gold. It’s worth a lot more.

In 2018, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission set a total landings quota for Maine elver harvesters of 9,688 pounds. Of that, just under 2,070 pounds are allocated among Maine’s four federally recognized tribes, which issue their own fishing licenses to tribal members. DMR allocates the balance, some 7,566 pounds, among harvesters licensed by the state.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Maine to let new people into lucrative baby eel fishing biz

January 16, 2020 — The state of Maine is allowing nine new people to participate in the fishing industry that harvests baby eels, which are among the most valuable natural resources in the state.

Baby eels, called elvers, are harvested so they can be used as seed stock by Asian aquaculture companies. They are typically eventually used in Japanese food. The eels were worth more than $2,300 per pound in Maine in 2018.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Washington Times