Christine Keene of Lubec, Maine, checked one of her mother’s glass eel nets in the Penobscot River.

Coveted by the Japanese, small glass eels have made a number of Maine fishermen rich. These glass eels were caught in Maine’s Penobscot River.

Marine Patrol Specialist Colin MacDonald monitored eel fishing activity near the Penobscot River.

MacDonald stands by the Penobscot River in Brewer, Maine, looking toward the Bangor side.

Nathan Murphy, of Princeton, Maine, checked his net for glass eels in the Penobscot River.

Eel buyer Joe Peaslee, of Jefferson, Maine, waited all night for eel fishermen to sell their catch.

Harvey Curtis, 66, hopes the state's eel fishery will remain open because of the “poverty down this way; people need the money.”

Darrell Young of Waltham, Maine, held a small glass eel he had caught in the Penobscot River in Veazie, Maine.

Angela Young and her husband, Darrell, checked a glass eel catch on the Penobscot River last week.