The word eel conjures up slimy, slithery images for most – not something delicious to eat. But, in places outside the United States, eel is a delicacy. It’s one of those rare resources that we have here, but don’t often enjoy locally. This is a hot topic since the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) recently announced the winners of the elver lottery. It’s not exactly like Powerball, but the lucky winners do stand to win one of the nine new licenses issued this season.
The season is only 10-weeks long and opens in just a few days on March 22. That means that soon those lucky new license holders will start fishing for these strange creatures. They use a couple of different methods to catch them. You can use a fyke net, which is a funnel shaped net, a hand dip net, or baited eel pots.
The eel we have in Maine is the American eel (Anguilla rostrata). It looks like a long yellowish-brown snake and has a fin that runs along its back, around its tail, and then underneath its body. It has a bit of an underbite with a lower jaw that sticks out past its fat upper lip. They are carnivores and eat just about anything depending on what’s available. But, it’s where they live and when that is the most interesting. Similar to salmon that migrate between freshwater and saltwater to spawn, eels also follow this journey – but backward.
Eels don’t spawn along our coast, however – they spawn out in the Sargasso Sea. That’s not actually as far away as it sounds. The Sargasso Sea is a large area of the western North Atlantic east of the Bahamas and south of Bermuda. After spawning, the adults die and their larvae are transported by the Gulf Stream back to our coast and then travel up into freshwater streams to grow into adults. That’s where we are in the season right now – their return to freshwater. Where they are in their journey determines what they are called. The tiny newborns are translucent and are known as glass eels. Then, as they enter freshwater streams and rivers they grow into elvers. As they get bigger, they are known as yellow eels and then silver eels and there are different fisheries for those. There is a small year-round fishery for yellow eels that are found in brackish water and there used to be a fishery for silver eels in the late fall. This one has been prohibited in recent years to protect the larger spawning adults.
Because eels are found in several states along the coast, the fishery is managed by an interstate body called the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). They set an annual catch limit and then each state sets their licenses within that and allocates how much each licensee can harvest based on their history. In Maine, licenses are divided between four federally recognized tribes and commercial applicants. There aren’t too many new licenses available each year because many people renew their license from year to year – hence the lottery.
The reason it’s such a big deal to get a license for the spring elver fishery is that it is incredibly lucrative. While we don’t eat much eel here, there is a high demand in Asia. The price paid for American eels, most of which went to this market, was about $2000 per pound last year! In total, the fishery was worth over $20,000. In Asia,
Maine eels are grown out to larger sizes where they are considered a delicacy. They can be prepared in many ways including as sushi or smoked, grilled, fried, baked or jellied.
As we approach the start of the elver season, perhaps you’ll find an opportunity to see these odd creatures or maybe even try some at a local sushi restaurant. You can also recreationally catch up to 25 eels (9 inches or larger) each day for personal use if you want a first-hand experience. It’s yet another little-known resource along our coast that is valuable for the coastal economy and heritage.
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