Glass EEL

[Fly Rod]

Those of us that use eels for striped bass fishing or any other fishing may see a scarcity of the slimey creatures in the bait shops and of course a higher price !!!

This all has to do with the demand of the "Glass EEL" in Japan ,Taiwan and other Asian countries!!!! Some of us are saying what is a glass eel and others are saying I don't use glass eels!!! The glass eel is the "American EEL" in it's inmature stage (baby)!!!!! With the demand of the glass eel on the black market and the illegal taking of them in this country has lead to the decline of mature eels!!!!

The Marine Fisheries Commssion will be taking one of two steps!!

1 An Addendum, which can fast track management measures!!!! If the commission takes this route there could be new rules and regulations in effect within 2-6 months!!!!!

2 An Amendment to the fishery will expand the time frame of taking effect probably into the 2006 season before we feel the impact!!!!

[Nebe]

If people are illlegally taking teh glass eels, what will stop them after teh laws have changed?

[Flaptail]

On tCape the EPO's ( Environmental Police Officers) spend a lot of sleepless nights at this time of year watching herring runs, not for herring poachers but for Elver ( immature eels or glass eels) paochers. It is against the law in Ma. to possess eels under 8 inches I believe. The culprits are almost always from Maine, where it is legal to harvest elvers. My neighbor is an EPO and he and the others are watching the runs. The poachers set up fine mesh nets to catch them as they arrive from the Sargasso sea. They form gelatinous balls of living eels about four to five inches long and since they cannot fight the water pressure of the heering ladders they roll out like a ball along the damp rocks and earth, bypassing the fast water. I have seen this incredible thing several times. Thier slime keeps them adhered to the rocks etc. as they roll en masse up hill until they come to the pond that was ingrained by thier parents into them. They do it only at night from what I have seen and been told. In Falmouth several years ago three guys from Maine were caught with over 50 pounds that once it made it to Japan was worth thousands of dollars.
They are light gray transparent in color. These guys will kill the eel stocks if not stopped.

[Gloucester2]

Paul was a diligent Shellfish Warden - I miss him.

[fishweewee]

Another reason to nuke the Japs - one more time.

[Raven]

but one of the north koreans main exports and they have only THREE. (drugs, and plutonium/arms being the other two....
the THIRD..........
is our money that has been counterfited .......as they are experts at it....

so basically the are selling big chunks of american currency thats phoney

i sometimes wonder where and what all that currency is buying....maybe glass eels.

[outfished]

I think I'll start an eel farm in my pond and keep a shotgun over it. How difficult can it be to raise these slimy buggers?

[Swimmer]

I knew a guy in Maine that bought them. I didn't know he was in the business until I heard his garage had been broken into in Ellsworth, and all the frozen elvers were stolen. The rumor has it that he used to sell organic pharmacuticals also. A pound of elvers brings a mound of money and very little heavey lifting was involved for the middle man. If thier illegal here the rest of the New England states should fall in line.