High prices for baby eels in Maine as season nears end

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Photo: 560 WGAN Newsradio

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Maine’s annual fishing season for baby eels is nearing the end, and prices have approached record highs.

Fishermen seek baby eels, called elvers, in Maine rivers so they can be sold to Asian aquaculture companies for use as seed stock. The Maine Department of Marine Resources says fishermen are just about out of quota this year, and that means the season’s about finished.

Maine’s fishermen are allowed a little less than 10,000 pounds of baby eels per year. They have less than 100 pounds of that remaining.

The state says the average price per pound for elvers has been close to $2,100. That’s third-highest price on record. In Asia, elvers are raised to maturity for food.

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