What Canada can learn from Maine's approach to the lucrative baby eel fishery

With the only light coming from their headlamps and the moon, Darrell Young and his son, Dustin, make their way through the woods and down a bank, to the stream below. It's 3 a.m. in Franklin, Maine, and the father and son are going to see how many baby eels are in their nets.

Authorities in Maine say they have figured out how to regulate a fishery that is so out of control in Canada, the federal government has shut it down this year — the third shutdown in five years — putting 1,100 people out of work. 

Baby eels, also known as elvers or glass eels, are generally fished in rivers and streams in Maine, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and a handful of Caribbean islands. They're shipped live to Asia, where they're grown to maturity and eaten — the dish is so popular it led to overfishing in Japan and Europe, leaving seafood wholesalers looking to Canada. 

Elvers are extremely valuable, worth nearly $5,000 a kilogram last year, compared to lobster, which is worth $15.  

But in March, the minister of fisheries and oceans said the fishery would not open this year due to violence, illegal fishing and sustainability concerns. 

Since March 6, fisheries officers have arrested 123 people and seized 21 vehicles, 118 kilograms of elvers and 286 nets. People from Maine have also been caught elver fishing in Nova Scotia. 

The U.S. experienced similar problems more than a decade ago, but began making changes to how its elver fishery is regulated in 2012. The Maine Department of Marine Resources says it now deals with only four to five infractions a year, compared to 220 in 2013.

Over a period of several years, the state increased fines, revoked licenses and made elver violations a crime — instead of a civil infraction. 

"We would put them in jail. We weren't messing around," said Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Keliher says he was faced with shutting the fishery down for good, or making some serious changes. 

The value of Maine's fishery has varied dramatically over the years as it has changed its regulations, but, at its peak, was worth more than $40 million US. 

The state also eliminated cash transactions in the fishery because there was so much cash — up to half a million dollars a person — changing hands right on the rivers. 

"Banks were running out of money in eastern Maine," he said. 

"That was a dangerous situation. I mean, my officers were walking up to harvesters and dealers and everyone was carrying guns."