Every spring at this time, Elver season opens in our harbor. 'Glass Eels', baby eels called Elvers, find their way from the Sargasso sea, where they were born, up freshwater rivers and streams to lakes and ponds. There they will reach adulthood (10 to 20 years), and close the cycle as the adults return and spawn out at sea.
Fyke nets, highly regulated as to number and grounds, are tended at low tide. The tiny glass eels (1 to 2" long and nearly transparent), traveling upstream become trapped in the 'Cod End' of the net (a basket that can be opened and dumped into a bucket).
Regulations allow only a few licenses, by lottery, and open a portion of the stream so most Elvers will pass through.
The Elvers must be kept alive. They are shipped live, mostly to Asian markets. There the baby eels are released in fish farms to grow to adult size.
Elver eels (the adults) are a delicacy in some parts of the world.
I've seen the catch price go as high as $2,000 per pound for live baby Elvers.
Last year was a bust as Covid killed market which is restaurant driven.
2021, who knows? The world may be hungry.
At night I've watched the 'dippers' dance beneath their headlamps as the tiny eels begin to run in the darkness.
LIke panning for swimming gold.
Fyke nets, highly regulated as to number and grounds, are tended at low tide. The tiny glass eels (1 to 2" long and nearly transparent), traveling upstream become trapped in the 'Cod End' of the net (a basket that can be opened and dumped into a bucket).
Regulations allow only a few licenses, by lottery, and open a portion of the stream so most Elvers will pass through.
The Elvers must be kept alive. They are shipped live, mostly to Asian markets. There the baby eels are released in fish farms to grow to adult size.
Elver eels (the adults) are a delicacy in some parts of the world.
I've seen the catch price go as high as $2,000 per pound for live baby Elvers.
Last year was a bust as Covid killed market which is restaurant driven.
2021, who knows? The world may be hungry.
At night I've watched the 'dippers' dance beneath their headlamps as the tiny eels begin to run in the darkness.
LIke panning for swimming gold.