Achi news desk-
A Nova Scotia commercial fisherman says he’s seeing early signs that the federal government has stepped up its enforcement of illegal eel fishing.
Stanley King, of Atlantic Elver Fishery, responded today to the recent news that the federal Department of Fisheries has arrested five people from Maine for illegal fishing in Digby County, NS.
King says the department has “upped their game” this year, but expects incidents of unauthorized fishing to rise as the population of the small fish known as juvenile eels increases with favorable tides and warmer waters.
He says it’s not unusual for fishermen from Maine to come to the Maritimes because Canada has developed a reputation in the past few years for lax enforcement.
King says that while he believes the majority of fishermen from the US state are Indigenous, he says there are certainly many who are not.
The Fisheries Department says that since March 8 it has arrested 95 people, confiscated 21 vehicles, 73.6 kilograms of young eels, 175 dip nets and 58 byke nets.
The department closed the 2024 juvenile eel fishery on March 11 due to safety and management concerns.
Juveniles are usually sold live to aquaculture operations in China and Japan where they are grown for food. In 2022 prices reached as high as $5,000 per kilogram.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on April 25, 2024.
