PORTLAND, Maine (WGAN/AP) Fishermen might soon be able to catch thousands of pounds of valuable baby eels for years to come.

Elvers are likely the most valuable fish in the U.S. on a per-pound basis.

That’s because they’re vitally important to the worldwide supply chain for Japanese food.

An interstate regulatory board that controls the fishery has released a plan to potentially keep the elver quota at its current level of a little less than 10,000 pounds a year with no sunset date.

The only state in the country with a significant elver catch is Maine, where fishermen have voiced concerns in recent months about the possibility of a cut to the fishery’s strict quota system.