Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio Smuggling Baby Eels: The New Black Market
Apr 17, 2026
J.M. Hirsch, food writer and recipe developer, shares a home-friendly take on Jordanian baked kefta with tahini. Otis Gray, radio reporter and producer, explores America’s eel boom, the rise of an international elver black market, smuggling tactics and federal stings. They also touch on cultural eel traditions and adapting restaurant methods for home cooks.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Reporter’s Hunt For Smoked American Eel
- Otis Gray chased smoked American eel up to Hancock, New York and northern Maine after missing Ray Turner, the longtime "eel king."
- He found Passamaquoddy fishers like Stan Meader still smoking eel using traditional methods and colors described as dark gold and auburn.
Eel Life Cycle Explains Population Collapse
- American eels travel thousands of miles to spawn and were once abundant before dams and overfishing collapsed populations.
- Their mysterious life cycle includes spawning in the Sargasso Sea and long river migrations that dams interrupt.
Elver Gold Rush Fueled International Smuggling
- Global demand for eel, especially unagi, and collapsing Japanese and European stocks created a lucrative market for glass eels (elvers).
- Smugglers transported up to 100,000 glass eels in suitcases, fetching six-figure sums once grown.