Saving Seafood

Maine Marine Patrol Arrest Gardiner Man for Illegal Possession of Elvers

April 7, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

The Maine Marine Patrol arrested Dana Wayne-Holmes, 61 of Gardiner on Saturday April 2 for illegal possession of elvers. Illegal possession of elvers is a criminal offense and is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2000 fine.

Holmes was arrested in Waldoboro after an investigation by the Marine Patrol revealed that he was attempting to purchase and sell elvers without a license. Holmes held an elver dealer license in 2015, however he does not hold a current dealers license.

Also charged in the investigation was licensed harvester Irving Banks, 47 of Jefferson. Banks was charged with exceeding his individual elver quota, also a Class D crime punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2000 fine.

In addition to fines and jail time, Banks faces possible one-year administrative suspension of his current license while Holmes faces possible one-year suspension of his right to obtain a dealer license in the future.

“It is a privilege to have an elver license in Maine,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner. “This is one of the most lucrative fisheries we have, and one that has required a great deal of work by the Maine DMR and law abiding members of industry to sustain and manage. I will use the full extent of my authority to investigate and bring to justice anyone who violates laws that help us protect this valuable fishery.”

The Marine Patrol investigation involved eight Marine Patrol Officers including Lieutenant Jay Carroll, Sergeant Russell Wright, Sergeant Rob Beal, Sergeant Matt Talbot, Specialist Matt Sinclair, Officer Brian Brodie, Officer Jon Luellen, and Officer Chris Hilton.  The Marine Patrol seized thirteen and half pounds of elvers from Holmes worth an estimated value of more than $18,000 based on per pound value at the time of the violation.

Dana Wayne-Holmes (Two Bridges Regional Jail)

Dana Wayne-Holmes (Two Bridges Regional Jail)

MAINE: Elver season opens with new laws in place

March 24, 2016 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — Maine’s elver fishing season opened at just after midnight on Tuesday morning chilled by the first spring snowfall and the prospect of a weak market.

Many of Maine’s ponds and rivers are ice-free after an exceptionally mild winter and some harvesters had reported seeing elvers — more properly glass eels — moving into fresh water after their long ocean journey from the Sargasso Sea, where the juvenile eels hatched. Until Monday, harvesters had been anticipating an early start to the fishing season.

“There’s been a few eels in the brooks,” Franklin elver harvester Darrell Young said Monday afternoon as he scouted the shore of Hog Bay for a spot to set his fyke net once the season opened at midnight. “Some brooks are as warm or warmer than the ocean. The snow will cool things off. Things will slow down until it warms up.”

Young is one of the founders of the Maine Elver Fishermen Association and one of the leaders in the state’s battles with federal regulators to control the fishery.

While the water will almost certainly grow warmer, longtime elver buyer Bill Sheldon said that the situation in the principal markets for Maine elvers is likely to cast a chill over the price fishermen are paid for their catch.

“The Chinese and Asian economies in general are terrible,” Sheldon said Tuesday morning as he prepared to welcome the harvesters he expected to bring him their first elver landings late that night. “It’s going to reflect on the market for sure, and on the price we’re going to get for our eels.”

Maine elvers, just a tiny segment of the world market, are shipped primarily to farms in China and Taiwan, where they grow for about a year before they are processed into kabayki. Popular throughout much of Asia, the eels are gutted, boned and butterflied, then cut into square fillets that are skewered, dipped in seasoned soy sauce and broiled.

According to Sheldon, the poor economy has cut demand for kabayaki and, consequently, for elvers. Farmers who bought elvers last year are having trouble selling the mature eels they’ve raised.

“Everyone’s cutting back and it’s showing up right now,” he said.

That could be bad news for Maine elver harvesters.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Law Changes for 2016 Maine Elver Season Improve Opportunity for Harvesters

March 15, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources:

A recently passed bill will improve Maine elver harvesters’ chances of landing all of the state’s 9,688 pounds of quota. The changes come just in time for the 2016 elver season, which starts on March 22, 2016.

“Last year Maine left over 4,400 pounds of quota in the water,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher. “That represents more than $9,600,000 in potential income that Maine harvesters could not access.

“While a cold, dry spring in 2015 made it hard for harvesters, in-season closures and the length of the season compounded that problem. This year the management improvements we have put in place will allow us to provide more flexibility and better opportunity for Maine elver harvesters.” 

One provision within the law will eliminate the 48-hour closures each week while another will lengthen the season by a week.

“The 48-hour closures were established at a time when there was no limit on the amount harvesters could land,” said Commissioner Keliher. “Because this is now a quota based fishery, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s technical committee and eel management board voted unanimously to allow Maine to eliminate in-season closures.”

“Now, with the quota system and the ability to monitor the harvest in near real-time with swipe cards, both of which we implemented in 2014, we can manage this fishery with precision. That means better prospects for fishermen and better protection for the resource.”

The new law will also provide an additional week of harvesting opportunity. Previously the season went from March 22 to May 31. This year it will last until June 7. “Last year, migration started late because of the cold spring, so there were elvers running strong at the end of the season. But unfortunately we had to close it on the statutorily mandated date. The combined success of our quota and swipe card systems allows us to extend the season a week and provide more opportunity for fishermen,” said Commissioner Keliher.

This season harvesters will also have an opportunity to choose their gear type rather than continue to use the type they were previously authorized to fish. “While the law will not allow harvesters to choose more gear than they are currently authorized to use, we want to provide people with the flexibility to fish the gear type they prefer.”

The new law also authorizes Commissioner Keliher to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with Maine’s tribes if they request a waiver of the requirement to allocate individual fishing quotas. The agreement would allow tribal members to fish under an overall tribal quota, rather than an individual quota. “This compromise acknowledges the unique interests of the tribes while maintaining the important measures that have allowed Maine to protect and preserve this valuable fishery for all license holders.”

MAINE: Elver fishermen unite as tribes agree to new rules

March 9, 2016 — ROCKPORT — Last year, Maine fishermen harvested elvers worth more than $11.4 million from the state’s streams and rivers. That made the fishery for the tiny, translucent juvenile eels the fourth most valuable in the state, but it still wasn’t a good year.

A cold, dry spring delayed the migration of elvers from the sea into the rivers where harvesters set their gear. As a result, Maine fishermen landed just 5,259 pounds of the tiny wrigglers, little more than half the 9,688-pound quota allocated the state by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

The good news was that those elvers were worth $2,171 per pound to the harvesters fortunate enough to catch some.

When the Maine Elver Fishermen Association gathered for its annual meeting Saturday morning, harvesters received some good news from Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher and former MEFA Executive Director Jeffrey Pierce.

Emergency legislation enacted that morning should give fishermen a better chance to actually fill the quota, and Keliher said he also hoped it would reduce friction over the elver fishery between the state and Maine’s four tribal governments.

Of immediate consequence, the new law extends the elver season, which begins on Tuesday, March 22, from May 31 to June 7 and allows fishing every day of the week. Under the prior law, the fishery was closed on weekends as a conservation measure.

Initially, LD1502 gave Keliher flexibility to set the 48-hour closures before the season to take account of the tides and minimize the impact on the industry. With fishing limited by a fixed quota since 2014, though, the closure became unnecessary.

The legislation also allows licensed fishermen to chose before each season starts what type of gear they will use — fyke nets or dip nets. It does not, however, authorize the use of more gear.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American 

Maine’s 2015 Commercial Marine Resources Top $600 Million for the First Time

March 5, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources: 

Maine’s commercially harvested marine resources topped $600 million in overall value in 2015, according to preliminary data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The total,$631,768,531,  reflects an all-time high and an increase of more than $33 million over the previous record set in 2014.

The largest single increase in value was in Maine’s lobster fishery. The fishery saw the overall landed value jump by more than $37 million and the average per pound value increase by more than 10 percent, going from $3.70 per pound in 2014 to $4.09 per pound in 2015.

The overall value of Maine’s lobster fishery was again by far the highest at $495,433,635. When factoring in bonuses paid to harvesters as reported by 11 of Maine’s 19 lobster co-ops, the overall landed value of Maine’s lobster fishery reached $510,680,048.

2015 marked the fourth year in a row and the fourth year ever in which Maine lobster harvesters landed over 120 million pounds, with landings totaling 121,083,418 pounds. “Maine’s lobster fishery continues to be a major engine for our coastal economy,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

“This past year saw a continuation of steady and historic lobster landings throughout the season. The increase in value reflects growing demand for Maine lobster.

“While this year’s value and landings are great news for our coastal economy, we also recognize that lobster represents more than 81 percent of the overall value of our commercial fisheries,” said Commissioner Keliher.  “It shows that we all must be working hard to build and sustain our commercial fisheries and to create more diverse opportunity, be it with traditional commercial fisheries or an expanding the role of aquaculture. This work is critical to ensure we can adapt to changes in landings and value in future years.”  

Maine’s softshell clam industry retained its second place standing in overall value at $22,536,086, a record for the fishery.  The jump in value came on the strength of a 47 cent per pound increase over 2014. At $2.46 per pound, 2015 landings netted harvesters a 23 percent increase in per pound value over 2014 despite a drop in landings of one million pounds.

At $2,171 per pound, Maine’s elver fishery was by-far the most lucrative of Maine’s commercial fisheries on a per pound basis. Despite a season in which landings were well below the state quota due to a cold, dry spring that slowed elver migration and challenged harvesting, overall value increased by nearly $3 million. At $11,422,381, the elver fishery was Maine’s fourth most lucrative behind herring at $13 million.

DMR officials consider 2015 a continuation of the successful rebuilding effort for Maine’s scallop fishery despite a decline in value and meat pounds landed. “We expected 2015 to be lean in terms of landings,” said Commissioner Keliher. “But considering that Maine scallop harvesters landed more than ten times the amount harvested in 2005, this fishery is on the right track.” 

More landings data can be found at http://www.maine.gov/dmr/comfish.htm.

Maine may extend fishing season for eels prized as sushi

February 21, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishermen are making money on sushi in Maine, the only state in the country with a significant baby eel fishery, and lawmakers are looking to make it possible for them to make more.

Maine’s baby eels are wriggling gold, sometimes worth more than $2,000 per pound at the dock. The baby eels, called elvers, are sold to Asian aquaculture companies who raise them to maturity for use them as food, and they frequently end up in sushi and sashimi. Some end up back on plates in the U.S.

But fishermen must abide by a strict quota system that limits the state fishery to 9,688 pounds per year, and they caught only 5,242 pounds of elvers last year. Fishermen attributed the slow season to a cold spring, which state regulators said slowed the migration of elvers in the rivers and streams where they are caught.

Lawmakers are looking to change the restrictions on the elver fishery to give fishermen a better chance to catch the entire quota. A legislative committee recently approved a plan to extend the season by a week and allow weekend fishing, as opposed to the current limitation to five days per week.

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

MAINE: Marine Resources Committee schedules hearing on elver legislation

January 6, 2016 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — The Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee has scheduled a public hearing on a bill introduced by Rep. Walter Kumiega (D-Deer Isle) that would give the Department of Marine Resources more flexibility in managing the elver fishery.

The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 13, in Room 206 of the Cross Building in Augusta.

Sen. Brian Langley (R-Hancock County) is among the bill’s co-sponsors.

Kumiega, House chairman of the Marine Resources Committee, has proposed a bill that would, he said last month, “provide increased flexibility and promote maximum utilization of the elver quota by Maine’s elver harvesters.”

The law as it now stands calls for a 48-hour fishing closure each week to give the juvenile eels, commonly known as elvers, a chance to pass upstream on their spring journey from the sea to their spawning grounds in Maine’s streams, lakes and ponds. The closed period is now set by statute and runs from Friday at noon to Sunday at noon each week. Kumiega’s bill would let DMR set the 48-hour closed periods by rule prior to the start of the season, based on the timing of the weekly tidal cycle. The department would consult with industry members to determine which weekly 48-hour period would have the least impact on the fishery opportunity by setting the closed periods when the tides are the least advantageous to harvesting.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

 

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