Where to get American Eels

[WildLand]

Hey everyone,

So I'm looking at finding american eels. Every time I try to search for them it only comes up with frozen eels and eels by the pound to eat, although that might be yummy, that won't actually work for my tank.

My director said that he ordered eels from Canadian hatchery but they couldn't make it past customs. So where is a hatchery or somewhere that I can find some eels?

Thank you!

 

[Oddball]

Someone is selling them as FW, not knowing (or not saying) that these elvers eventually must return to the ocean.

 

[ShadowStryder]

Anquilla Rostrata. Go to coastal bait shop or Asian Market. They both sell them live as food or bait for striper fishing. Or as Oddball showed. Ebay or Amazon, cheaper at markets or baitshops though.

 

[WildLand]

Ya I saw those eels on ebay but expensive for 1! And like you mentioned is that there is not a lot of info on them. Are all glass eels turn out to be rostrata though too?

I'm not sure if I can find any bait shops in the heart of the desert haha but did come across that in a search. I will look around some Asian markets around here to see if they have some.

 

[golcondorus]

I saw some for sale here in Oregon yesterday at an LFS near me. Little American eel elvers for 8.99. I had never seen them for sale before. They were in freshwater


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[WildLand]

Really?? I wish that was closer to me. I don't have really any LFS here, petsmart, petco, and petsbarn. Won't find any there

 

[spotfin]

Interesting. Is the ebay ad still up? I couldn't find it. There are only 2 states in the U.S. where the harvest of elvers is legal- Maine and South Carolina. Elver season hasn't started in Maine yet, so these would legally have to come from S. Carolina. I'd be curious where the seller got these from. I've never seen them for sale at this life stage in the pet trade. As stated, larger ones are typically sold for fishing bait.

 

[PUHUCBLMX2]

ask around in the Native Fish/Cold Water section, a few guys there have eels and can probably point you in the right direction.