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April 23, 2013

Bill barring cash for elvers takes effect

A law prohibiting cash payments for elvers, the baby eels that sell for  around $2,000 a pound, went into effect midnight Monday.

The Mount Desert Islander reported that emergency legislation from Rep. Walter Kumiega, D-Deer Isle, was among the bills that went into effect without the governor's signature.

In addition to prohibiting cash payments, the new law also tightens requirements for dealers to verify a seller's license to catch the lucrative eels. Elvers have become the state's second highest grossing fishery, just after lobster, despite a 10-week harvest season.

During public hearings on the bill, Kumiega said elver dealers supported the proposal because they felt unsafe carrying cash -- sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars -- to pay for elvers.

Kumiega told the paper that the state's Department of Marine Resources is working to implement the law in the next few days.

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