A number of Maine residents really
like Rhode Island fish, especially young eel. They also don’t like paying for
them.
Several Maine residents were
recently caught by police in the act of taking the tiny eels near fish ladders
along local streams and lakes. The motive for the crime? The young fish sell
for about $2,500 a pound.
The state Department of
Environmental Management (DEM) has made arrests, but hasn't released details.
In recent weeks, DEM officials have been alerting police department across the
state to look for the poachers.
In Barrington, police encountered three Maine residents shortly before 2 a.m. May 4 as they planned to take the young eels, known as elvers, from Echo Lake. Gary Wayne Beverage, 38, of Jefferson, Maine, showed police the buckets and trolling nets he planned to catch the fish with. Beverage was arrested and charged with felony narcotics possession.
Two other Maine residents carrying
nets and fishing gear were also questioned after a traffic stop in East
Providence about 1 a.m. April 29.
The tiny eels, between 2 and 4
inches long, spawn in salt water and migrate to freshwater rivers and lakes,
where they feed and grow for up to 20 years. The eels are shipped to Asia,
where there is strong demand for the young fish.
Maine and South Carolina are the
only states that allow elver fishing. Officials worry that Maine license
holders are poaching the small fish in other states such as Rhode Island and
bringing them back to Maine where there is a lucrative and legal market for
selling the fish. Arrests for elver poaching have been a regular occurrence
from New Jersey to Maine since mid-March.
The American eel, or glass eel, is
labeled “stressed” due to overharvesting and the loss of habitat. The U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service is considering endangered species protection for the
eels.
