The office of federal Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray responded Thursday to allegations her department hasn’t done enough to stop poachers from harming the lucrative baby eel fisheries in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
In a statement, Murray’s office said fisheries officers have continued to enforce a fishing moratorium imposed April 15 amid reports of increasing poaching and violence along tidal rivers in both provinces.
Some commercial harvesters have come forward to complain that little has been done to stop the poachers, especially during the nearly two-week-long strike by members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which includes fisheries officers. The strike started four days after the moratorium was imposed.
The tiny, translucent eels, witch are worth more than $4,000 per kilogram, are fished at night in tidal rivers as they migrate inland from the ocean each spring. They are typically sold to buyers in Asia where they are grown for food.
On Thursday, Murray’s office said fisheries officers are enforcing the Fisheries Act and working with the RCMP and other agencies to “combat illegal fishing” of baby eels, which are also known as elvers or glass eels.
“Since the issuance of the Fisheries Management Order on April 15, which closed the elver fishery for a period of 45 days, enforcement efforts have been conducted by fisheries officers to deter and disrupt unauthorized elver harvesting,” the statement said.
“To maintain operational integrity, we do not disclose the number of active officers nor what specific enforcement activities they are undertaking. Fishery officers will continue to enforce the law.”
Since April 15, fisheries officers have made 18 arrests and seized 6.5 kilograms of elvers, a vehicle, 15 dip nets and 22 fish traps, known as fyke nets, in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the statement said.
Last week, Nova Scotia’s representative in the federal cabinet, Sean Fraser, said the public service strike made it difficult for Ottawa to enforce conservation rules.
Fraser, a Nova Scotia MP and the federal immigration minister, said the essential services role of fisheries officers who were required to work during the strike was limited to situations where a person’s life was at risk, or something of a similar scale. As well, a fisheries officer confirmed that conservation measures and regular patrols would not be covered by essential service legislation.
Some licence holders in the fishery have been sending photos to the Fisheries Department that allegedly show people regularly fishing for elvers despite the temporary ban.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2023.
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