Fisheries and Oceans Canada said the elver fishery in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick would be closed for 45 days, effective immediately, due to conservation and safety concerns
“Conflicts have escalated to violence and threats, risking the safety of harvesters and constituting a threat to the proper management and control of the fishery,” the federal department said in a statement. “Closing the elver fishery is a required response to address these combined risks.”
The American Eel was designated as threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada in 2012. “All elver harvesting is now prohibited and subject to enforcement action,” the department said. “DFO will continue to work closely with the RCMP and local police to monitor and address criminal activity and reports of threats, intimidation, or violence.”
Perkins, fellow Nova Scotia Conservative MP Chris d’Entremont and the party’s fisheries critic, Clifford Small, signed a letter sent to federal Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray last week that called for her department to “immediately enforce the law and stop all illegal elver fishing to conserve the stock and prevent violence on the rivers in Nova Scotia.”
“DFO appears to be doing little to control unlawful elver harvest activity and to make sure our Kespukwitk fishers are safe from violence. This is unacceptable, and it is time that federal officers start taking steps to ensure the safety of all.”On Thursday, Nova Scotia RCMP said two men were facing charges following an attack linked to the elver fishery in Hubbards, N.S., on the southern outskirts of Halifax.