Tag Archives: Elver fishermen
Elver fishermen push for higher quota, say resource isn’t endangered
Despite the abrupt end to the elver season last month due to poaching, elver fishermen continue to support an increase in Maine’s annual catch limit. The Bangor Daily News reported that more than 60 elver fishermen appeared at a hearing held Wednesday by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission — the interstate body that oversees the eel and elver fishery, among others — to consider whether to raise the quota from 9,688 pounds to 11,749 pounds. >click to read<13:47
Elver eel lottery system for permits is a go in Maine
Maine is implementing a new lottery system for licenses to fish for baby eels, which are worth more than $1,000 per pound on the worldwide sushi market. Baby eels, called elvers, are a major fishery in Maine, where fishermen sell them to dealers so they can be sent to Asian aquaculture companies to be raised to maturity and used as food. But industry members and lawmakers have said the fishery needs a way to bring new people into the business because many elver fishermen are nearing retirement and there is no way to get a license. The Legislature approved a permit lottery system last month. click here to read the story 13:26
Maine: Despite chill, elver fishermen eager for start of season
Along the banks of the Union River on Tuesday morning, between the boat launch on Water Street and the Leonard Lake dam, more than a dozen elver fishermen were staking out their spots, waiting for noon to come so they could set up their nets along the banks. More than 10 miles away, in a marsh at the edge of Hog Bay in Franklin, lifelong fisherman Babe Stanley had the banks of a tidal stream all to himself — except for robins darting about and a fox that ran up a nearby hillside. Stanley, 87, trekked through ankle-deep snow that morning from Route 200 to a bend in the creek where he usually sets his nets to await the start of Maine’s 2016 elver season. Read the article here 07:54
Elver fishermen unite as tribes agree to new rules
Last year, Maine fishermen harvested elvers worth more than $11.4 million from the state’s streams and rivers. That made the fishery for the tiny, translucent juvenile eels the fourth most valuable in the state, but it still wasn’t a good year. A cold, dry spring delayed the migration of elvers from the sea into the rivers where harvesters set their gear. As a result, Maine fishermen landed just 5,259 pounds of the tiny wrigglers, little more than half the 9,688-pound quota allocated the state by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. When the Maine Elver Fishermen Association gathered for its annual meeting Saturday morning, harvesters received some good news from Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher and former MEFA Executive Director Jeffrey Pierce. Read the article here 09:42
Closely watched Maine elver season marked by slow start, low prices
Tim LaRochelle sat in the bow of a 16-foot canoe, scanning the murky river water by the light of a headlamp and a nearly full moon. “There’s one,” LaRochelle said, pointing at a squiggle created near the water’s surface by a tiny, translucent immature eel – an elver. LaRochelle kept looking, but nearly a minute passed before he pointed to another squiggle. Read more here portlandpress 09:52
Maine tribe resists same-rules-for-all elvers plan that caps individual catches
Under the bill, tribal fishermen would be subject to the same individual catch limits as other Maine fishermen. But the Passamaquoddies contend the tribe has made numerous other concessions, limiting itself to just one type of gear and agreeing to a decrease in its overall share of the elver harvest. Passamaquoddy officials say choosing who can fish is cultural, not just a matter of conservation. Read more here 21:35
Elver fishermen split on derby-vs-quota proposals to cut harvest
“You’re going to have people who just don’t reach their quota,” fisherman Billy Milliken of Jonesport told Keliher, which will mean money that legally could be made in the elver fishery won’t be. “The state needs this revenue. We need this revenue.” “I think the individual quota would protect my privilege [in having a license] the most,” Mark Fields of Indian Island said. “If the price was $50 per pound, we wouldn’t be here,” Keliher said Read more@bdn 20:24
This catch share sh-t is getting pretty lame. Elver fishermen debate quotas vs. ‘derby’ for lucrative fishery
AUGUSTA, Maine — Should the state implement individual quotas for elver fishermen next spring, or should it just set a statewide quota and use a derby approach? more@bdn 21:22 I’m about sick of the term derby.
Maine Department of Marine Resources to meet with fishermen about reducing elver catch
ELLSWORTH, Maine — State officials have scheduled two public meetings to get feedback from fishermen about how Maine should reduce its elver landings next spring. more@BDN 20:52
Lottsa bag slashing he-ah. Elver fishermen flocking to the Penobscot River
“There’s a lot of bag-cutting and stealing on this river,”. “[Some people] are just hostile,” Tibbetts said. “Everybody seems to own a piece of river and everybody wants to hold it.” “We had some issues last Wednesday right down the river,” 
Tibbetts said. “A couple of guys with weapons and sticks and this and that, wanting to fight over a spot [to fish]. It’s just one of those things. You’ve got to protect yourself if you’ve got to.” continued
