© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WECS · WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM · WVOF
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

How Did Glass Eel Prices Get So High?

Uwe Kils
/
Creative Commons
Glass eel markets in Maine and South Carolina have reached $40 million in recent years. That number is 20 times greater than the average value for the past eleven years.
In 2012, glass eel harvests in Maine and South Carolina were valued at nearly $40 million.

Governor Dannel Malloy has vetoed a bill that could have brought a glass eel fishing season to Connecticut. Glass eels are a juvenile species of American eel that can sell for hundreds of dollars per pound, but how did those prices get so high?

You know a commodity's hot when it inspires a reality television show called "Eel of Fortune." That's a show that aired on Animal Planet (its name was later changed to "Cold River Cash") that told the story of fishermen trying to get rich off "slippery gold" by selling eels to Asian markets.

"The price of glass eels has increased over the past few years and that's the result of a number of factors outside of the U.S.," said Kate Taylor, biologist with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. She monitors eel stocks along the east coast.

Taylor said Asian markets got interested in American eels for two reasons. First, the European Union banned the export of European eels. Then, the 2011 tsunami curbed markets in Japan. "The Japanese eel and the European eel were the preferred eels for the for the Asian aquaculture markets and there was an inability for those two populations to meet the demand," Taylor explained. "Buyers turned to the American eel populations ... and that's why you saw an increase in the harvest and the price for glass eels within the U.S."

In 2012, glass eel harvests in Maine and South Carolina, the only two east coast states that allow glass eel fisheries, were valued at nearly $40 million. That number was 20 times greater than the average value for the past 11 years.

But there are signs the glass eel bubble is already starting to burst. In part, Taylor says, because the Japanese glass eel market is rebounding. That's pushed the value of glass eels down to about $600 to $800 per pound this year. Still, that's a lot of money for a creature no bigger than your pinkie.

There have been efforts to list glass eels as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Governor Dannel Malloy said he vetoed the Connecticut legislation because the state needs to be “good stewards of the environment.”

Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. He can be reached at pskahill@ctpublic.org.

Fund the Facts

You just read trusted, local journalism that’s free for everyone, thanks to donors like you.

If that matters to you, now is the time to give. Join the 50,000+ members powering honest reporting and a more connected — and civil! — Connecticut.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Fund the Facts

You just read trusted, local journalism that’s free for everyone, thanks to donors like you.

If that matters to you, now is the time to give. Join the 50,000+ members powering honest reporting and a more connected — and civil! — Connecticut.