This very long article answers everything you want to know about the Elver market.
Why Maine Is The Only State In The US With A ‘Significant’ Elver Fishery
Maine Public | By Nora Flaherty
Published May 1, 2018 at 5:59 AM EDT
That’s when the European Union banned all exports of European eel. (European eels are now listed as critically endangered, and Japanese eels endangered.)
While Maine is the only state with a commercial elver quota, it’s also legal to fish elvers in South Carolina and sell them. But a very small number of people do it, and the volume of elvers they catch is very small.
So, that’s why you read that Maine is the only state with a “significant” elver fishery.
It is a very lucrative highly regulated business in Maine and with that regulated business comes corruption and crime.
There is also a large urchin market from Maine that get processed here and the roe shipped to Aisa.
Oops, forgot the link
and one on urchins