January 28, 2019 — Illegal sales of baby eels that caused last year’s abrupt closure of Maine’s elver fishery have resulted in criminal charges for two baby eel dealers and new rules from the state proposing closer oversight of the lucrative fishery.
The alleged criminal behavior, in which some dealers are accused of using prohibited cash transactions to conceal baby eel purchases from the state’s mandated electronic sales monitoring system, is the latest illicit scheme to be uncovered in Maine’s baby eel fishery.
Ever since the value of the eels, also known as elvers, jumped from an average price of $100 per pound a decade ago to more than $2,300 per pound last year, fishery regulators have had to contend with increased poaching and smuggling.
The Maine dealers accused of making illegal cash purchases of elvers last spring are Roger Bintliff and Freddie Mei, according to Jeff Nichols, spokesman for the state Department of Marine Resources.