Below you’ll see Fyke nets in Blue Hill’s Mill Stream. At high tide, they’ll try to capture migrating young American eels known as glass eels or sometimes as elvers. Most of them are sold into Asian markets, where they are farmed to maturity and then sold as delicacies.
The average price to Maine fishermen for glass eels peaked at over $2000 per pound in 2023. As of April 11, 2026 (the latest state preliminary price data), it was reported to be down to $197. This fishery, once considered lucrative and important to the state economy, apparently is in trouble.
The season this year is scheduled to extend through June 7. Maine only allows 425 fishermen to hold the licenses necessary to take a quota of migrating eels during a season. As original license holders drop out, they’re replaced by applicants who are chosen by lottery.
The reasons for the low prices may be varied, but the market for the baby eels seems to be glutted. Timothy Larochelle, a veteran Maine glass eel fisherman and fishery advocate from Woolwich, thinks that “the low price has a lot to do with Illegal fishing in Canada and Haiti the past few years.” An internet search indicates that he may be right.
(Image taken in Blue Hill, Maine, on April 10, 2026.)