Recent Examples on the Web

In Sweden, they might be smoked, braised in beer, or fried in butter; in Italy, boiled in tomato sauce; in England, jellied in stock, or fried with eggs into an elver cake. Brooke Jarvis, The New Yorker, "Where Do Eels Come From?," 18 May 2020

The season for baby eels, called elvers, was scheduled to begin Sunday. USA TODAY, "Distancing failures, equipment roadblocks, testing limits: News from around our 50 states," 23 Mar. 2020

The elvers are subject to strict quotas designed to prevent overfishing. USA TODAY, "Leaning Tower of Dallas, John Glenn, blue lobster: News from around our 50 states," 20 Feb. 2020

The state caps the total number of elver licenses at 425. USA TODAY, "Leaning Tower of Dallas, John Glenn, blue lobster: News from around our 50 states," 20 Feb. 2020

The spokeswoman said that a third Chinese national had escaped from the airport, leaving another suitcase containing an additional 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of elvers. Julie Zaugg, CNN, "Two Chinese nationals tried to smuggle live baby eels onto a plane," 31 Oct. 2019

One of the kingpins was a Maine dealer named Bill Sheldon, who years earlier had taught fellow fishermen how to catch the tiny translucent elvers swimming upstream by moonlight. National Geographic, "19 Eel Smugglers Sentenced, But Lucrative Trade Persists," 27 June 2018

Court records show that Sheldon worked with a network of elver fishermen and dealers up and down the East Coast to smuggle eels to Asia. National Geographic, "19 Eel Smugglers Sentenced, But Lucrative Trade Persists," 27 June 2018

The elver fishery is tightly regulated to deter poaching because of the high value of the baby fish. Washington Post, "Lucrative baby eel fishery shut down over illegal sales," 23 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'elver.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.