USA: Regulators keeping Maine eel fishery quota flat

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASFMC) is planning to maintain the same quota in the Maine elver fishery for at least the next few years, even as preliminary data indicates an abundance of the eels.Maine’s elver, or glass eel, fishery has grown to be the state’s second-most valuable fishery, earning USD 20.1 million (EUR 18.7 million) in 2022 and USD 19.3 million (EUR 18.1 million) in 2023, with an average price per pound of USD 2,031 (EUR 1,894). Each year, the fishery has a quota of 9,688 pounds. That quota stems from a “gold rush” period in 2012 and 2013, when values for the small eels spiked and fishermen caught significantly more elvers than at any other time in the fishery’s history. In 2012, fishermen landed 21,611 pounds of elvers with a value of over USD 40 million (EUR 37 million), which, adjusted for inflation, is USD 52 million (EUR 48 million) today. The next year, fishermen caught over 18,000 pounds worth almost USD 33 million (EUR 30 million). That ...