PORTLAND, Maine– April 8, 2013 — Maine fishery officials are calling last week’s seizure of $61,000 worth of baby eels, a pickup truck and eel storage equipment the largest illegal eel possession case in the history of the state’s elver fishery.
Phillip Parker, 41, of Candia, N.H., was cited last week for possession of 41 pounds of baby eels, known as elvers, without having a Maine fishing license, officials said Monday.
With fishermen getting $2,000 a pound for their catch, the case underscores the large amounts of money that are changing hands in what has turned into a highly lucrative fishery.
Legislators are now considering emergency legislation that would make illegal elver possession a criminal offense, rather than a civil violation, with mandatory $2,000 fines. Stricter penalties are needed to deter illegal activity, said Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.
‘‘The incredible amount of money in this fishery warrants a more stringent penalty because fines often don’t amount to 1 pound of elvers,’’ he said.
For 10 weeks each spring, fishermen line Maine’s coastal rivers and catch tiny eels — translucent, alien-looking creatures that are 2 to 4 inches long — as they swim upriver. Most of the catch is shipped to eel farms in Asia, where they are grown to market size before being sold to restaurants and retailers.
Illegal fishing wasn’t a problem when fishermen weren’t making so much. A decade ago, eel prices tumbled to under $30 a pound, making them barely worth catching. In 2001, the total catch was valued at a meager $40,000.
People started getting in trouble with eels even before this year’s season began. Three Maine men in mid-March were charged with illegal elver fishing in New Jersey, which has no elver-fishing season. Officers seized 9 pounds of eels, potentially worth about $20,000.
Read the full story from The Boston Globe