(Glass Eel/Elver) Eel market sizzles as prices hit $2000/pound in Maine

[jpak]

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Eel-market-sizzles-as-prices-hit-2klb-in-Maine-.html

PORTLAND — Tiny translucent elvers — alien-looking baby eels the size of toothpicks, with big black eyes and spines — are mysterious creatures, floating thousands of miles from their birthplace in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean before ending up each spring in. in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean before ending up each spring in Maine's rivers and streams.

But there's no mystery about what's drawing hundreds of fishermen to riverbanks to catch the creatures during the two-month fishing season. The price of the eels has skyrocketed to unparalleled levels, with catches bringing up to $2,000 a pound.

A worldwide shortage of the prized dinner fare, imported in infancy from Maine to Asia to be raised in farm ponds, has buyers paying top dollar for the baby American eels. A pound of eels should be worth around $30,000 on the open market once grown to market size, according to one dealer.

Elver prices go up and down all the time, but nobody's seen them shoot up the way they have over the past two seasons. Last year, at $891 per pound, elvers became Maine's fourth most-valuable wild fishery, worth more than well-known traditional fisheries such as groundfish, shrimp and scallops.

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[CBGLuthier]

1. Oh, for a second I thought it was ALL eel

and I regretted eating takoyaki the other night instead of barbecued eel.

[Javaman]

2. This reminds me of Tulips. nt

[lastlib]

3. Guess I'm eating spam again tonight.....

[kristopher]

4. Imports of young eels plummet as wholesale prices double

Imports of young eels plummet as wholesale prices double
Friday, April 6, 2012
Kyodo

Imports of young Japanese eels plunged by almost half from January to February while their price more than doubled to over ¥2.1 million per kilogram, according to Finance Ministry data.

This indicates that not only Japan, but other Asian countries are suffering from poor catches compared with a year ago.

Japan only imports young eels from Hong Kong, but most of the eels imported in the period came from Taiwan, which bans exports of young eels for conservation reasons. This means large quantities are being unlawfully shipped from Taiwan and sent to Japan via Hong Kong, according to industry sources.

Operators of eel aquaculture farms in Japan rely on imports that they grow to maturity for human consumption. Imports from Hong Kong came to 3,830 kg in January and February, compared with 7,236 kg in the two first two months of 2011 and 8,999 kg in the same period in 2010.

The transaction price came to about ¥2.16 million per kilogram this year, compared with about ¥810,000 in 2011 and about ¥1 million in 2010, the Finance Ministry data show...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nb20120406a2.html

$1 = roughly 80 yen

[NYC_SKP]

6. Hi Steve,

I hope you have reasons for being a member of DU beyond selling things.

It would be a good idea think about that.