Are elver licenses like lobster licenses - 25 year waiting period and severely limited number? Seems to me that the licensing process in Maine is designed to protect the current holders of the licenses and shut out anyone else.
I haven’t heard of a 25 year waiting period for lobster licenses, but the number of licenses are limited as you mentioned.
I’ve heard of apprentice programs for lobster fisherman, but these guys are very clannish and have unwritten rules they apply to themselves.
For instance, there are areas off the coast in which a group of lobstermen set their traps. Lobstermen are limited to a certain number of traps, and if someone outside the group sets up traps on the ocean floor, the new guy gets his lines cut by the guys who consider the area to be “theirs.”
A couple of lobstermen got into a dispute on a island off Maine’s coast about a year ago, and one of them pulled out a firearm and started shooting at the other guy. Fortunately, the guy doing the shooting had bad aim, although he did get arrested.
Lots of rules and regulations are the order of the day, but the lobster fishery is in good shape.
Sounds like crony capitalism to me - in both cases.