State targets elver fishermen for welfare fraud
Three state agencies are collaborating to root out welfare fraud by elver fishermen in an investigation that state officials said was mistakenly disclosed to the press.
The Maine Sunday Telegram reported the investigation aims to compare elver license holders from 2010 through 2013 with welfare benefit recipients for the same period of time, according to a memo the newspaper obtained from the Department of Health and Human Services’ fraud unit. The investigation, the paper reported, began in August and ends Jan. 31, 2014.
State officials declined comment on the investigation and the reasons behind it.
During the time period of the investigation, prices for the translucent baby eels soared to over $2,000 a pound, which the paper reported earned some fishermen over $100,000 in a 76-day period. Last year, the fishery took in nearly $40 million in landings, becoming the state’s second-most lucrative harvest, after lobster.
The paper reported the investigation also comes alongside efforts to further regulate the newly lucrative fishery. State regulators are expected to implement new catch limits next year. Oversight of the fishery also fueled a dispute between the state and the Passamaquoddy Tribe, which issued its own elver fishing licenses, earlier this year. Patricia Bryant, an elver dealer and licensed harvester in Nobleboro, told the paper she expects the new catch limits and recently revealed investigation will only heighten tensions between the tribe and the state next year.
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