PORTLAND, Maine — April 22, 2014 — Maine’s short but lucrative elver fishing season has started slowly, by all accounts, and prices are down dramatically from the 2012 peak of more than $2,000 per pound.
But two weeks in, the annual frenzy surrounding the netting, selling and shipping of the translucent baby eels to Asian markets seems safer, according to one elver dealer and his employees who attribute the “saner” sales climate to changes that include a new electronic swipe card system implemented by the state to track the volume of elvers each fisherman catches.
Elver dealer Max Feigenbaum sometimes works 36 hours straight this time of year, buying the glass eels from fishermen at Delaware Valley Fish Company on Commercial Street and shipping them overseas.
If you sleep for two hours, he said, “Then you’re two hours behind.”
The season was originally slated to open March 22, but delays in implementing the new regulatory system pushed opening day back to April 6. Despite that late start, the season will still end on May 31, according to Jeff Nichols, spokesman for the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
In part due to persistent cold, the 2014 season has been slow during the first two weeks. But as temperatures rise, business seems to be increasing.
“The eels are there,” said fisherman Darrell Young, co-director of the Maine Elver Fishermen Association. “They’re just a little late. But they’ll be back in May.”
Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News