PORTLAND (AP) — Regulators from East Coast states are considering possible new regulations that could place strict limits on or even close down Maine’s lucrative glass eel fishery.
The American Eel Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is meeting today in Georgia to discuss and possibly vote on new regulations. Options range from maintaining the status quo to imposing quotas to closing the fishery.
The debate is being watched by Maine fishermen who net baby eels known as elvers that have fetched $2,000 a pound the past two seasons.
Separate sets of regulations are being considered for glass, yellow and silver eels, which are the same eel but at different life stages. The glass eel fishery has drawn the most attention because of the sky-high prices.
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