PORTLAND — Federal regulators could issue a recommendation this week about a new quota for Maine’s baby eel fishery. A spokeswoman for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission says the American Eel Management Board will meet Thursday in Alexandria, Virginia, and vote on recommendations for the fishery. The recommendation follows an elver season in which […]
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Posted inBusiness, Maine, sj-web
Cold weather, low prices hurt lucrative elver market
PORTLAND (AP) — Maine’s lucrative baby eel season is off to a slow start, with cold weather and resurgent foreign markets combining to depress catch and prices paid to fishermen, officials say. Baby eels, called elvers, are Maine’s second most-valuable fishery after lobsters. The volume and value of the state’s elver fishery have boomed in […]
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Former Maine tribal representative among 8 men caught harvesting elvers in New York
PORTLAND (AP) — New York Department of Environmental Conservation officers have arrested a former Passamaquoddy tribal representative to Maine’s Legislature and seven other people on charges of illegally harvesting baby eels from a creek on Long Island’s East End. Frederick J. Moore III, of Perry, and others surrendered April 8. Authorities charged them with lacking […]
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Two Massachusetts men arrested in Portland for illegal elver possession
PORTLAND, Maine — Two men from Massachusetts were arrested Thursday in Portland after Maine Marine Patrol investigators found them with about 20 pounds of elvers and no license allowing them to possess them. Joshua P. Medeiros, 30, of South Dartmouth, Mass., and Andrew P. Cournoyer, 43, of West Wareham, Mass., both were charged with possession […]
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Maine introduces swipe cards for elver fishermen
PORTLAND (AP) — With the opening of elver season Sunday, fishermen for the first time are using electronic swipe cards to record sales of the baby eels, a move the state says will streamline data, enforce new catch limits and prevent illegal transactions. In a fishery best known for its ballooned prices, marine resource officials […]
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Maine lawmakers back new rules in elver fishery
AUGUSTA (AP) — The Maine House and Senate have approved a bill that tightens rules in the state’s lucrative elver fishery. The bill approved Wednesday gives the Department of Marine Resources power to delay the start of the season and the ability to revoke the licenses of fishermen for out-of-state fishing violations. Republican Gov. Paul […]
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Maine to hold final hearing on elver catch cuts
The Maine Department of Marine Resources meeting scheduled for Tuesday was supposed to take place last week but was rescheduled due to bad weather. It’s taking place at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer. Elvers, as the baby eels are known, are caught in Maine rivers and exported to Asia. They’ve come under scrutiny since prices ballooned […]
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Maine proposes new elver reporting rule
AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine fisheries officials are seeking comments on a proposed rule that would require elver fishermen to record their sales to dealers on a swipe card to provide regulators more accurate and timely information on the elver catch. Elvers have come under scrutiny since prices escalated to $2,000 and more per pound for […]
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Maine targets elver fishermen in welfare probe
AUGUSTA (AP) — The Department of Health and Human Services is targeting Maine elver fishermen in a special welfare fraud investigation. The agency is reviewing catch records and tax filings from 2010 to 2013 to determine if any eel fishermen who received welfare benefits have failed to report income. The DHHS, the Department of Marine […]
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Maine elver fishery to face harvest cuts in 2014
PORTLAND (AP) — Maine’s lucrative glass eel fishery will be allowed to remain open next year as long as state officials devise a plan to cut its 2014 catch by at least 25 percent, regulators agreed Wednesday. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s eel management board voted to postpone passing new regulations that would go […]