The eel management board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announced on Tuesday that it will consider raising the number of baby eels fishermen can harvest in Maine, as first reported by the Associated Press.
Maine fishermen harvest baby eels, also known as elvers, from estuaries and rivers, and sell them to aquaculture businesses in Asia.
Those companies then raise the elvers to maturity, and sell them as a Japanese delicacy.
As the eel population diminished in some waterways near Japan, the price of elvers skyrocketed to $2,000 per pound.
Currently, Maine fishermen catch around 10,000 pounds of baby eels per year.
Jeff Nichols of the Maine Department of Marine Resources told the Associated Press that the agency hopes the current quota, which expires next year, is maintained.
The board gave no indication of whether it feels the quota should be increased, but says it will study the issue.