Few people would suggest that 2011 was a good year economically in Maine, but for one group it turned out to be a banner year.
Now that Maine’s 2012 elver fishing season is about to begin, elver fishery observers are wondering if the value of the catch will remain at unprecedented highs. The season starts 22 March and runs through the end of May.
Elvers are small eels that swim upstream from the sea into fresh water in the spring. They are caught mainly with funnel-shaped fyke nets that fishermen place along the banks of tidal rivers and waterways. In recent years the demand for elvers has gone up in east Asia, where they are cultivated for the seafood industry.
That demand is the main reason that the average annual price elver fishermen in Maine got last year spiked to nearly USD 900 per pound, while in some areas it was even higher.
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