April 19, 2023 — If you’ve eaten at a sushi restaurant, you might have come across eel on the menu. But did you know that most eel which makes its way to plates in America is caught here and raised overseas?
American Unagi raises the fish in Maine as the only land-based eel aquaculture company in the United States. They source eels from local harvesters in Maine and grow them in a recirculating aquaculture system on the Waldoboro coast. It’s done without hormones or antibiotics … or eels shipped across the world as tiny, clear, toothpick-sized juveniles and brought back as adults.
The company wrapped up construction on a $10 million, 27,000-square-foot facility in January to expand production of American eel to more than 500,000 pounds a year (or about 2 million eels).