Wednesday is the first day that Maine is accepting applications for a place in next year’s baby eel fishing lottery.
The baby eels, known as elvers, are typically worth well over $1,000 per pound.
This will be the first lottery since 2013. Maine Department of Marine Resources spokesman Jeff Nichols says that’s when regional fisheries regulators capped Maine’s elver harvest, and the Legislature decided to stop issuing new licenses for the fishery.
“But this past legislative session the Legislature decided that they would provide opportunity for a handful of new harvesters to get into this fishery,” he says.
In fact, as things now stand, only 7 new licenses are available. Nichols says lawmakers cap elver fishing licenses at 425, and 418 licenses have already been renewed.
The lottery is open to state residents who will be at least 15 by the start of the 2018 elver fishing season, which begins on March 22. Those interested can apply online or in person.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
