Eel Wier on East Branch

[moosekid]

I was watching this show "Filthy Riches" on Netflix last night and it features a commercial eel fisherman. He has fishes using a wier on the East Branch. My questions are A) Anybody seen this thing/know this guy?? B) Does he need some kinda permit to do this??

I feel like a lot of people would be butt-hurt if he was harvesting rainbow trout, and assumed he was only targeting eels. Yet, in the episode I watched last night he filled an order for like 60 smoked rainbow trout...

I kinda assumed that the eels were an invasive species and that he was doing the trout guys a favor -- but then I saw all these fat rainbows in his smoker. In the show you never see him a pull a single trout out of the wier, but I find it hard to believe that they don't swim into it...

 

[sunsignarcher]

The trout were from a hatchery. Saw that episode awhile back.

 

[flyI4]

That video is about Ray Turner. He is actually the man- kind of a loner but a good guy and interesting to talk to once you get to know him a bit and he opens up. He sells some of the most delicious smoked fish and other items I've ever had- well worth it. Especially the smoked shrimp and salmon. Have not ever seen him fishing out back but I"m sure he gets his rainbows locally from guys who catch and keep them then sell them to him. Rainbow population up there is as healthy as I've ever seen it in 15 years though so tough to complain as long as they are fishing within the legal limit.

 

[moosekid]

That video is about Ray Turner. He is actually the man- kind of a loner but a good guy and interesting to talk to once you get to know him a bit and he opens up. He sells some of the most delicious smoked fish and other items I've ever had- well worth it. Especially the smoked shrimp and salmon. Have not ever seen him fishing out back but I"m sure he gets his rainbows locally from guys who catch and keep them then sell them to him. Rainbow population up there is as healthy as I've ever seen it in 15 years though so tough to complain as long as they are fishing within the legal limit.

Nice avatar, dude.

I was expecting someone to know him. He seems like a smart guy in the show.

CMM -- you should watch the show. It won't turn you into a meth-head, I promise...and I think you've got a future in worm digging...

 

[flyI4]

He is definitely in the know. He has an engineer backround and is a very smart guy- just doesnt like dealing with people much. I've even heard that he gives his mail to people to bring into town because he hates going in. After a few visits into his place though he starts to warm up a bit and you can pick his brain.

 

[Trout Nazi]

If your into smoked food and the art of smoking food, this place is a must visit location. He ships that eel all over the world.

 

[WBDluver]

so its legal to catch game fish and resell them? I never knew that. I know you cant do that with game.

 

[Future Fanatic]

so its legal to catch game fish and resell them? I never knew that. I know you cant do that with game.

From NYSDEC:


Purchase and Sale

Fish that are salable at any time include:
•Those species in the STATEWIDE ANGLING REGULATIONS table for which there is no closed season or no minimum length.
•Fish taken on licensed fishing preserves. These fish must be properly tagged prior to removal from preserve premises.
•The following fish only if taken outside of New York or if legally taken in licensed commercial gear: coho, chinook and pink salmon, Atlantic salmon, lake trout, whitefish, pickerel, crappie, northern pike and walleye. Additional regulations may apply to the sale of these imported fish; contact a DEC Regional Office for more information. Exception: the American eel is the only fish taken from the Quebec portion of Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River that may be transported into and sold in New York State.

Fish that are non‑salable, unless taken on a licensed fishing preserve or private hatchery and properly tagged, include black bass, landlocked salmon, muskellunge and trout

 

[lightenup]

so its legal to catch game fish and resell them? I never knew that. I know you cant do that with game.

All meat must be inspected by the federal government....fish not so much...

 

[JeffK]

Couple of things. American eels are native to NYS, but are severely threatened. St Lawrence and Susky runs are blocked by dams, only the Delaware and Hudson fish hang in there. Ray Turner's weir is supposedly the last licensed eel weir in the state. However, at one time the operation of shad and eel weirs was pretty competitive. Over on the Susky there were political maneuvers that allowed weirs in Tioga Co, but not upstream at Binghampton which created a lot of friction. Many of these weirs started as native American fisheries and the Iroquios had major eel fisheries in Central NYS (eels are fatty and are calorie rich - which made them more valuable than LLS according to some). Archeologists dated one weir on the Passaic R in NJ as being 8000 years old.

A lot of retired guys in the Fingers and Lake O angle for yellow perch and sell them. That is the only angler caught fish that has much of a market that I know.

 

[babyblue]

The weir in Calicoon has been revived. This is a border water, don't know how that relates to NY. I asked and they did have a permit to operate. Their complaint was getting ripped off at night.

 

[mudbug201]

I talked to Ray about those rainbow trout and I didn't get the impression they were wild Delaware-caught fish. He seems pretty keen on protecting the resources in the river, for obvious reasons, so I would be very surprised if he was harvesting or accepting lots of wild rainbows from an unstocked river.

Anyway, JeffK gave a good rundown. I think I heard Ray's weir dates back to the stone-age as well.

Ray, on the other hand, only goes back to the bronze age.

I recently read something depressing about American river eels the other day, maybe in a Paul Greenberg book. Apparently there's no market for eels in the US because we're grossed out by them. So, American eels caught or farmed in the US are frozen and exported to Japan and Korea, where they are eaten whole or smoked for use in sushi.

But then, as "smoked eel", a lot of these eels make their way back to sushi restaurants and groceries in the US.

So, we take a native fishery teetering on the edge, fish it irresponsibly (not talking about Ray here, but the aquaculture of wild caught young) and then export it to the other side of the world so it can be processed, as if we are a resource-poor country with no choice in these things.

(incidentally we do the same thing with lumber and lots of other products)

And then we re-import the shit, once it's been smoked and repackaged as a product that we recognize as exotic and tasty. Even though they came from our rivers in the first place and we practically gave it away. Twisted.

Instead of buying an eel roll at the sushi place in the strip mall on Route 10, make a point of stopping by Ray's next time you're on your way back from the SR or West Branch and pick up a smoked eel. They're not cheap, but they're caught and smoked right here by a local guy using old school tactics, and they're unbelievable. Plus Ray is the most gregarious hermit I've ever met, and is definitely worth shooting the shit with.

 

[FIN-ITE 34]

Speaking of the American eel



Glass Eel Gold Rush Casts Maine Fishermen against Scientists - Scientific American