PORTLAND, Maine (AP)   Fishermen of baby eels in Maine have come close to topping a record for the value of the tiny fish.

Maine has the only significant fishery for baby eels, which are also called elvers, in the U.S. The fishing season ended for the year on Friday.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources says the elvers were worth more than $2,090 per pound this year. That’s the third-highest figure on record. The fishermen set a record high last year with a price of $2,366 per pound.

The eels are valuable because they’re used as seed stock by Asian aquaculture companies that raise them to maturity for food use.

The amount of fish was close to the annual quota, which is a little less than 10,000 pounds. Those figures are preliminary.