American Unagi — the first-of-its-kind Waldoboro aquaculture business that grew elvers into full-sized eels — has shuttered, at least for the time being.
About a dozen fishermen who netted glass eels for the company last spring are owed thousands of dollars each, according to court records.
The business filed for bankruptcy in federal court for the District of Maine in September 2025 and remained in operation as it looked for a new owner to keep the company afloat.
Bidders showed “meaningful interest” in the company, founder and CEO Sara Rademaker told elver fishers in an email last week obtained by the Press Herald. But nothing materialized.
Maine Community Bank provided the business $5.5 million in credit secured by $12.5 million in assets. The bank purchased those assets in late December using $1 million of its incurred debt, court records show.
“The bank is working towards a sale of the facility and has several interested parties,” a spokesperson for the bank said in a written statement.
Judge Michael A. Fagone formally dismissed the bankruptcy case Jan. 29.
With American Unagi’s assets now in the bank’s hands, it remains unclear what will become of the Waldoboro eel nursery.
In a brief written statement Tuesday, Rademaker highlighted the company’s progress in the aquaculture field and lamented its unwinding.
“Through the development of the aquaculture facility, we were able to secure aquaculture quota for the state and generated nearly $1 million dollars in additional income for the harvesters we partnered with over the years,” she wrote. “It is really unfortunate it ended the way it has, especially after so many successful years with harvesters.”
When Rademaker launched American Unagi in 2014, the venture was lauded as a way to keep more of the business generated by the lucrative elver industry stateside.
Maine is one of two states with a baby eel (also known as elver or glass eel) fishery. Landings in the state in 2024 were worth about $12.2 million — down from about $20 million in previous years. The elver fishery is typically the second or third most lucrative in Maine.
American Unagi created a stable domestic market for toothpick-sized elvers by growing them to size in Midcoast Maine, rather than shipping them to Asia. In 2022, the company opened its $10 million facility in Waldoboro, which it says is North America’s first large-scale, land-based commercial eel farm.
American Unagi also had a flourishing relationship with the Passamaquoddy at Motahkomikuk (Indian Township), which saw the venture as an opportunity to support local business and create jobs for tribal members.
The tribal government there acquired an 11% stake in the company in 2021 and secured a $4.3 million federal grant to build an eel processing facility that would have established in Maine the final link in the processed unagi supply chain. American Unagi also hired tribal fishers to harvest elvers.
“We were hoping we could secure some long-term stability in the fishery,” Motahkomikuk Vice Chief Joseph Socobasin said Tuesday.
Now, plans for the processing facility are on hold because the local source for fully grown eels has vanished, at least for the time being.
Unsecured debtors — those owed money that is not backed by collateral — are still owed a collective $5.5 million.
That includes the tribe, which offered up $321,000 several years ago to help American Unagi when cash ran low, as well as tens of thousands of dollars owed to elver fishers, many of whom are tribal members, for their catch in 2025.
“This is disappointing and frustrating, and I recognize that this outcome impacts you all directly as working fishermen,” Rademaker said in an email to fishers last week. “I don’t take that lightly, especially given the trust you placed in myself and American Unagi over the years. I am truly sorry that we could not produce a better outcome for you all.”
Glen Melvin, a Waldoboro-based clam digger and elver fisherman, said the notice shocked him and left him feeling betrayed.
He’s sold elvers to American Unagi for several years and is owed $9,000, according to court filings. Melvin said Rademaker offered him about half that amount in May, but said she would double it if he waited until August to get paid. Now, Melvin doesn’t think he’ll get paid at all.
“If I could sit on it for a few months and double my money, as all the fisherman believed, then it was worth it,” he said. “I never believed on this scale, that this company would do this to us.”
Reuben M. Schafir is a Report for America corps member who writes about Indigenous communities for the Portland Press Herald.
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Reuben M. Schafir can be reached at [email protected]
