Elver Season a Win

by Laurie Schreiber

Adult eel.

AUGUSTA—The elver season this year went from March 22 to June 7, but wrapped up earlier when a great run allowed fishermen to harvest their quota before the end of the season.

“Most people filled their quota by a May 1,” said Darrell Young, founder and co-director of the Maine Elver Fishermen’s Association. “I think there was a tremendous amount of eels that went up the brooks.”

Harvesters netted their third highest overall value in the fishery’s history, according to preliminary estimates by the Department of Marine Resources (DMR).

According to the DMR, the 982 harvesters who fished this season netted $13.388 million, the third highest value in the history of the fishery and nearly $2 million more than was earned in 2015 by the 920 harvesters active at that time.

The average value for 2016 was $1,435 per pound, lower than the $2,171 in 2015, but the fourth highest on record.

Preliminary landings data shows harvesters caught 9,330 pounds of the 9,688 total statewide quota compared with 5,259 pounds harvested in 2015. According to DMR data, 285 harvesters reached their individual quota in 2016 compared to 104 in 2015.

Young said he filled his quota by May 8, the elver run easily exceeding expectations.

Young of year elver or glass eel about 4 inches long.

“I think we could have caught 20,000 pounds this year,” he said.

MEFA had lobbied for 11,700 pounds, but was turned down by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

“We’ll push for a quota increase for 2017,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll stop fighting until we see at least 15,000 pounds.”

The abundance of elvers is a direct result of conservation efforts, Young said.

“I think we’re seeing the results,” he said. “We’re seeing a tremendous amount of glass eels now.”

The 2015 harvest quota wasn’t filled because cold weather slowed much of the elver run until after the harvest season ended.

According to a statement by DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher, the extension of the season by a week and the elimination of a weekly 48-hour closure resulted in much better opportunity for harvesters.

“Our success using the swipe card and quota systems to manage this fishery gave us the confidence to eliminate those restrictions and provide Maine harvesters a better chance to land their full quota,” Keliher said in the statement. “The swipe card and quota systems, which were implemented in 2014, also continue to provide reliable tools to prevent illegal trafficking. This season there were only seven violations related to illegal elver possession, which is a dramatic decline from the 219 recorded in 2013 before the new management system was implemented.”

Earlier this year, Young sent a letter, on MEFA’s behalf, to the ASMFC, asking for Maine’s elver quota be reallocated to the 2014 quota.

The letter says, “Maine’s Elver Fishery took a huge reduction back in 1999 (70% reduction in licenses and a 75% reduction in gear}. Then in the fall of 2013 the fishery went to an individual quota. Maine’s elver fisherman took a 41.8% reduction from our 2012 catch.”

Harvesters in 2014 had an 11,749-pound quota.

“Everything was going very well,” the letter says. “Then we took another reduction of 13.8% in the 2014 spring season.”

That gave harvesters a 9,688-pound quota.

“During this time period, American Eel was undergoing a threat of being listed as endangered,” the letter says. “This past fall the U.S. Fish and Wildlife made the determination American Eel is not endangered, threatened or a species of concern. In fact the report states the stocks are stable and in some cases improving. Maine’s Elver Fisherman have made great financial sacrifices, with concern for the fishery.”

The letter asks for reinstatement of the 11,749-pound quota.

“We feel the current laws and regulations will ensure a healthy fishery. Maine’s Elver Fishermen greatly value our fishery. We have done everything possible to comply with all the unnecessary reductions we have been forced to endure. We have been unduly punished because of a lawsuit which was filed against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife,” the letter says.

Fisheries for yellow and silver eels have a long history in Maine, having occurred since the earliest colonial settlements. The elver fishery is relatively recent, having begun in the early 1970s to 1978 and recommenced in the early 1990s, according to the DMR. The fishery was nonexistent from 1979 to the early 1990s due to a collapse in market demand for elvers. In recent years, market demand has increased dramatically. Elvers are highly valued in Japan, China, Taiwan, and Korea, where they are cultured and reared to adult size for the food fish market.