What is believed to be the first land-based aquaculture farm for eels in the United States is now up and running in Waldoboro.
After several years of operating out a small temporary farm in Down East Maine, American Unagi finished construction earlier this year on a 27,000-square-foot facility that grows and processes locally harvested eel.
Company president and CEO Sara Rademaker says they'll produce at least 500,000 pounds of eel a year.
"So we work exclusively with the Maine harvested glass eels, and we bring those into the farm and grow them out using land-based recirculating aquaculture systems," Rademaker says.
The eels are grown to market size, filleted and smoked at the Waldoboro facility. Rademaker says the eel are then sold to sushi restaurants, wholesalers and retailers.
The United States imports about 11 million pounds of eels, mostly from Asian producers. Now that the Waldoboro farm is up and running, Rademaker estimates that the American Unagi production will represent about five percent of the overall American eel market.
