{"id":573,"date":"2016-03-03T15:10:52","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T20:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/cooperative-aquaculture\/?page_id=573"},"modified":"2016-04-01T16:49:32","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T20:49:32","slug":"american-eels-anguilla-rotrata","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/cooperative-aquaculture\/american-eels-anguilla-rotrata\/","title":{"rendered":"American eels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anguilla rostrata<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Fyke<\/a>
Fyke nets for catching glass eels or elvers. Union River, Ellsworth Maine 2015.\u00a0 Photo by Steve Eddy<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every spring juvenile eels, known as glass eels or elvers, complete a long and mysterious migration from spawning grounds in the Sargasso Sea to coastal waters, freshwater streams and rivers up and down the North American Atlantic coast. There they may spend from 5 to 20 years feeding and growing to maturity, before the adults once again swim to the Sargasso Sea to spawn. The return migration of baby eels has long supported a fishery in Maine to supply aquaculture farms in Asia. The dock price for a pound of live freshly caught elvers has exceeded $2,000 per pound in recent years, making it the most lucrative fishery product in Maine. The elvers are shipped to Asia, where they are grown in ponds or tanks for 1-2 years to market, then harvested as a delicacy (in Japan it is known as unagi, a delicious dish of smoked eel and teriyaki sauce on a bed of rice).<\/p>\n

Over the years, people in Maine and Canada have tried to farm American eels locally rather than shipping them to Asia, but previous attempts proved uneconomical.\u00a0 However, as consumer demand for eels grows, the price of wild elvers rises, placing increased pressure on wild stocks. Other regions around the world outside of Asia now see new opportunity in eel farming.\u00a0 This is certainly the case in Maine, which has a long aquaculture tradition and ready access to native stocks of American eels.\u00a0 In recent years, the Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research has fielded several inquiries into eel farming, and in 2016 we began working with our first start-up company to grow eels.\u00a0 Stay tuned to this page for further developments as they happen!<\/p>\n

Challenges of eel aquaculture include:<\/p>\n