You’ll Never Believe What Fish Is Selling For $2,500 Per Pound!

Could you imagine going to your local fish market, ordering up a pound of fresh fish, and getting a bill for $2,500!

Seems crazy, right?

Well it is entirely possible right now if you like certain sushi and kabayaki… because Elvers, a type of glass eel that goes into sushi and kabayaki have hit an all-time high price of $2,500 per pound! And these crazy high priced Elvers are being caught right here in the good ol’ US of A!

More on where they are being caught here in a second.

So What Are Elvers?

Elvers look more like clear noodles than fish, but in reality they are baby eels that migrate at night from the Atlantic Ocean to freshwater lakes and ponds.

And the Chinese and South Korean’s eat up Elvers like we eat up hot dogs… except of course our American hot dogs cost a fraction of what a pound of elvers costs… but at any rate, Asians consider these tiny eels much more of a delicacy than we do.

Here is a pic of what these “Elvers” look like cooked:

 Maine, The Elver Capital Of America!

When you think of Maine, you probably think Maine Lobster, right?

Well, what hardly anyone knows (unless you happen to be an Elver distributor) is that Maine is the Elver Capital of America! That’s right, Maine fisherman catch upwards of 10,000 pounds of Elvers every year (except this year of course)! That’s a lot of coin considering that there aren’t that many fishermen that can get an “Elver commercial fishing license”, and that they can only be harvested for 10 weeks out of the year.

Note: Maine State regulators say fishermen failed to reach the maximum catch of 9,688 pounds this year (which is why the prices have skyrocketed). And State Rep. Jeffrey Pierce of Dresden, who is an adviser to the Maine Elver Fishermen’s Association, said fishermen had only caught about 5,000 pounds as of late May.

Side Note: South Carolina is the only other state in America with a commercial Elver fishery. So watch out Gamecocks, your mascot might be renamed “The South Carolina Elvers” or “South Carolina Elvercocks” if these prices continue to climb.

“I Want To Know Where The Gold At…”

If you never saw the Leprechaun sighting video from Mobile, Alabama then you missed out on one of the funniest news reports of all time (you can watch it here).

That video also produced an unforgettable (yet relevant and very insightful) quote by one of the locals that wanted to get his fair share of the leprechaun’s gold. Here is what one of the locals in the Leprechaun video had to say towards the end of the interview,

“I want to know where the gold at. I want the gold. Give me the gold.”

Well as you can imagine, the same kind of “Gold Euphoria” is hitting some of the Maine coastal towns where Elvers are known to be found. Yep, back in 2012, when Elvers hit their last all-time high, it triggered a bit of a “Gold Rush” that had hundreds of people out in streams and rivers with nets in hand… trying to get themselves a piece of the “Elver Gold”.

Hopefully this year’s Elver supply and demand issues will have marine law enforcement ready to eliminate the poachers, after learning from the 2012 Elver mess. Clearly, the Elver population seems to be dwindling, so the last thing we need are poachers looking for the “Gold”.

But until prices subside, eating a bowl of Elders will be just like eating 24kt Gold… a taste I am glad that my palette does not crave…

P.S. – If you think your friends or network would find this interesting, please share it with them – I’d really appreciate it.