Tag Archives: Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
2024 Maritime elver season officially cancelled
The federal government has carried through on its threat to cancel the 2024 season for baby eels, also known as elvers, in the Maritimes admitting it is unable to manage the lucrative — but increasingly chaotic — fishery. In a statement on Monday, Fisheries and Oceans Minister Diane Lebouthillier cited “significant quantities of elvers being fished illegally” and “harassment, threats and violence between harvesters and toward fishery officers.” “In the light of all these considerations, it is clear that without significant changes, the risks to conservation of the species cannot be addressed and orderly management of the fishery cannot be restored,” she said. more, >>click to read<< 06:39
Minister Lebouthillier’s decision regarding the elver fishery in 2024
First and foremost, I would like to thank elver license holders, Indigenous communities and the public for the input that was shared with me on this year’s elver fishery. Our government is committed to the conservation of American eel, with sustainability and orderly management as the top priorities for the elver fishery. As you know, over the last few years we have unfortunately seen a pattern of increasing and very serious challenges in the elver fishery, including significant quantities of elvers being fished illegally, jeopardizing the conservation of the species. The fishery has also become the focus of harassment, threats and violence between harvesters and toward fishery officers, with a number of confrontations and incidents of violence creating an immediate threat to the management of the fishery and public safety. This undermines international and domestic efforts to sustainably manage elver fisheries. more, >>click to read<< 18:38
Canada proposes shutdown of troubled Maritime elver fishery in 2024
The federal government has served notice it intends to close the commercial fishery for baby eels, or elvers, in the Maritimes this year — six weeks before the season is set to open. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Diane Lebouthillier informed licence holders Tuesday and gave them until Feb. 23 to respond. Lebouthillier said there was not enough time for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to implement enhanced “access for Indigenous communities, a new regulatory framework to regulate and licence the possession and export of elvers, and a suite of operational changes to the management of the elver fishery.” “Based on all the above, it is my view that it is not possible to have a safe and sustainable elver fishery in 2024, and therefore the fishery should not be opened,” Lebouthillier wrote. more, >>click to read<< 16:46
No compensation for East Coast shrimp fishermen hit by Northern Shrimp quota changes
The federal fisheries minister has flatly rejected the notion of compensating fishermen in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick who are facing reductions in their northern shrimp quotas. During a news conference in Halifax July 21, Dominic LeBlanc said the fishery is still viable for those fishermen, so compensation is not needed. “We wouldn’t compensate people who are prosecuting a viable fishery,” said LeBlanc, standing next to the Halifax Harbour at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography. “But we’re sending a signal to both the inshore fleet in Newfoundland and Labrador and to the offshore sector in other provinces… that there are tough years ahead, it would appear, in terms of the scientific advice.” LeBlanc recently scrapped the last-in, first-out (LIFO) policy and replaced it with a system of proportional sharing. He said his decision on LIFO was based on science and is in the best interest of the shrimp stocks, which are in decline. Read the rest here 11:43
