In Haiti, along coastal areas and at the mouths of freshwater rivers, fishermen armed with fine-mesh nets and flashlights spend the night fishing for eels. The eel, a snake-like fish with a slimy body and reduced fins, capable of breathing outside water and living in rivers, ponds, and grasslands, but which migrates to the open ocean to spawn, is highly prized, particularly in Asia. In Haitian popular slang, it is compared to "cocaine" due to its lucrative export potential.

In an interview with Magik 9 (100.9 FM) earlier this week, Walson Sanon, one of the 21 exporters authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Rural Development, revealed that a kilo of eels, purchased in coastal areas for up to $2,500 (paid in gourdes at the daily exchange rate), can be sold on the international market for as much as $3,500, depending on market fluctuations.