Thanks I knew it was hard if not nearly impossible to get them- and even when they do all the ‘good spots’ are snapped up already- The competition is pretty fierce i guess- and hwo can blame em? The money is phenomenal- better than gold rush really
The had a show on it a few years back- it was quite interesting- wish they had kept the show goin- now all i’ve got is northwoods justice to see maine again lol-
I heard a story about a bunch of these elver fishermen who would make $60,000 - $70,000 a day, each, and then spend their night at Hollywood Casino in Bangor, Me. drinking and gambling.
The next day, they would collect another $60,000 - $70,000, and so on.
One guy (not one of the drinkers and gamblers) got in trouble for not paying income taxes on their earnings.
Another guy caught these glass eels in New Hampshire and tried selling them in Maine. New Hampshire does not have an elver fishery, so the guy trying to sell the elvers in Maine that he poached in New Hampshire was arrested and had his elvers confiscated.
I think last year the price was under $1,500 a pound.
Elver fisherman are now paid by check. Several years ago, these guys were paid in cash. In my area, I heard there was a building with a lot of heavily armed men; the elver fishermen were paid as soon as they brought in their live eels, after the elvers were weighed. From what I understand, there was literally millions of dollars in cash piled up on the tables.
A year or two ago, the federal government nearly shut the whole fishery down. The feds were worried that the eels were being over harvested and were becoming endangered. However, after a study, the feds determined that the elvers were NOT endangered, so the short season went off as scheduled last year and will this spring as well.
As I said in my previous post, there is a quota now whereas in the past, there was not.
Not far from me is the Union River, which goes through Ellsworth, Maine. On the banks of the river, there are what look like large tan sheets, tied to the river bank on stakes. The baby eels, or elvers, somehow pool up behind these sheet like nets and are then collected by the licenses fisherman who placed them there.