PORTLAND, Maine - The season for Maine's most valuable fishery by pound ends tomorrow. Elvers are selling this year for about $1,450 a pound - and harvesters have until the close of business Tuesday to catch up to 361 pounds more of the baby eels.
Many fisherman have already met their quotas - of a little less than 10,000 lbs.
Jeff Nichols, of Maine's Department of Marine Resources, says he can't say for sure that the overall quota will be met.
"I know we're going to come very close to being able to harvest the entire quota, very close to that," Nichols says. "And that's a good thing for Maine harvesters."
Maine is the only state with a major elver fishery. The baby eels are exported to Asia, where they're raised to adulthood as food.
Nichols says, as of yesterday evening, fishermen had caught more than $13 million worth of elvers. He says that's already more than last year.
