Fishers say closure of lucrative baby eel fishery won’t stop poaching in Maritimes

CITYnews halifax / By The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — A commercial licence holder in Nova Scotia says Ottawa’s decision to close the lucrative elver fishery won’t prevent illegal fishing of the baby eels on rivers in the Maritimes.

Stanley King says the federal Fisheries Department has moved too slowly to put in place enforcement measures that could have allowed for a 2024 season.

King says commercial fishers are not surprised by the federal minister’s “unfortunate” decision and believe her mind was made up even before she asked for input from commercial and Indigenous licence holders.

Federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier officially closed the fishery on Monday, saying past confrontations and violence indicated an “immediate threat” to public safety and management of the fishery.

Susanna Fuller of marine conservation organization Oceans North says she believes the closure is needed to allow time to introduce stronger regulations and sustainability practices.

Fuller says the Fisheries Department also has to work with Canada Border Services to clamp down on illegal exports of live eels, which are driving the poaching problem on coastal rivers.

The tiny eels are typically sold live to aquaculture operations in China and Japan, where they are grown for food, and prices reached as high as $5,000 per kilogram in 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press