Each spring, fishermen set nets in Maine’s rivers to fish for the state’s most valuable catch. No, not the iconic lobster, but tiny glass eels that fetch wholesale prices topping $2,000 per pound. Those baby eels, each two to three inches long, aren’t destined for dinner yet. Instead, they’re bought by aquaculture farms in Asia and grown to maturity in tanks; each pound of glass eels yields about 1,250 pounds of adult eels. Those adult eels are then sold back to the American market.

To Sara Rademaker, a marine educator with a degree in fisheries and aquaculture, the system didn’t make any sense: “Why don’t we just grow our fish in our own community?” she asked. In 2014, she launched American Unagi, North America’s first large-scale, land-based eel aquafarm. It started as a small, home-based operation but quickly grew. “We had 7,000 [glass eels], and then we jumped to 50,000 — and then 500,000.”

Young eels are still caught by licensed Maine eel harvesters, but instead of getting sent to Asia, they’re raised in Waldoboro, Maine, in recirculating aquaculture tanks. In captivity, 90% of the eels reach maturity, versus 1% in the wild. Fed a diet that’s free of hormones and antibiotics, they reach market size in under three years. Last year, the aquafarm raised 2 million eels, accounting for 5% of the U.S. market.

American Unagi ships fresh eels to chefs and fishmongers around the country. Their product has been served at more than 20 Michelin-starred restaurants, including Reverie in Washington, D.C., where chef Johnny Spero serves it grilled, brushed in a reduction of badger flame beets, and topped with caviar. “Quality and sustainability play a huge role in what we decide to put on our menu, and it’s especially important when we can highlight an ingredient so close to home,” he says.

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With the entire eel aquaculture operation taking place in Maine, consumers and chefs like Spero are finally able to have a more sustainable source for unagi — one that is trusted and traceable. “Ten to 15 years ago, people started wanting to know where their seafood was coming from — asking questions about their food systems,” says Rademaker. “That was something that helped me grow my business. People recognized the value of domestically caught and produced seafood.” Rademaker is now partnering with the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township on their project to establish an eel farm and processing facility in Maine’s rural Washington County. With the homegrown supply expanding, this native fish could finally gain pride of place on the American menu.

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