Question Period Note: Elvers: Anticipated Unlicensed Fishing in Spring 2022

Elvers: Anticipated Unlicensed Fishing in Spring 2022

The management of all fisheries is undertaken with conservation as the primary objective.

My department will continue to carefully monitor the elver fishery and take management measures necessary to ensure the conservation of the American eel, and a sustainable and orderly fishery.

Strengthened management measures were introduced for the 2021 season, following consultations with Indigenous communities and engagement with the commercial industry.

If pressed on the Fisheries Management Order that prohibited fishing for elvers in 2020

The commercial elver fishery is a directed fishery for juvenile eels and must be managed in a manner focused on conservation.

In 2020, fisheries management orders were implemented to support the proper management and control of the elver fishery. These orders resulted in closure of the fishery for the season, effective April 27, 2020.

Efforts to support the sustainability of this species are ongoing, which includes a review of the Department’s current management of the American eel fishery.

Listing under the Species at Risk Act

Following the recommendation made by COSEWIC in 2012 that American eel be listed as Threatened under the Species at Risk Act, the Government of Canada is analyzing the possible listing of American eel.

This is a very complex decision, with many social, cultural, and economic implications.

• American eel is currently being considered for listing as a threatened species under the SARA. If listed, automatic prohibitions under SARA would come into play: 1) against killing, harming, harassing, capturing or taking an individual; and, 2) against possessing, collecting, buying, selling or trading them. In addition, recovery planning requirements would apply, and (once critical habitat is identified) a ministerial order would be required to trigger a further prohibition against critical habitat destruction.
• Exemptions to the prohibitions could only be considered if information was available that indicated that: a) for fisheries, they could continue while still recovering the species; and, b) for incidental harm from other activities (e.g., hydro operations), they would not jeopardize survival and recovery after avoidance and mitigation measures are taken to minimize the harm. Land claims agreements are an exception.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) authorizes a commercial elver (eel under 10 cm) fishery in portions of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
• All food, social, and ceremonial (FSC) licences in the Maritimes Region include a minimum size for American eel. Sale is not permitted.
• The elver fishery is managed by the Maritimes Region with a total allowable catch (TAC) for the fishery and at a site-specific level with river catch limits set for each fishing location (rivers, streams, brooks) found in a commercial licence.
• In April 2020, the number of fishers outside the commercial fishery neared the number of participants in the commercial fishery.
• Fishing disputes and threats of violence were reported to DFO Conservation and Protection and local police.
• In 2020, Fisheries Management Orders were signed by the Minister closing the elver fishery due to threats to conservation and the proper management and control of the fishery.
• DFO staff are currently reviewing the management of the American eel fishery, including elver harvesting activities. The Department has implemented a minimum size limit (>10cm) for American eel in FSC licences in DFO’s Maritimes Region, which prohibits FSC fishing for elvers.
• Assertions of rights based fishing were reported in the Maritimes Region in 2021 and were subject to enforcement response in some cases. This activity is anticipated to occur again during 2022 fishing season (mid-March to July).
• DFO has initiated a process to consider voluntary relinquishment of commercial access to facilitate moderate livelihood access.
• This process is being lead by Indigenous Fisheries Management (Maritimes Region).
• DFO has received a request to consult on Moderate Livelihood Fishing Plans for elver from the Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office, on behalf of two Nova Scotia First Nations.
• The Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick has submitted a proposal that includes commercial access to elver, and aquaculture with the intention to reintroduce access to support FSC fisheries for adult eel.
• On Tuesday, April 13, 2021, the then Minister communicated with media that negotiations go beyond just lobster and includes all species. Further, she stated that DFO will continue to work with communities via negotiations to see if there is a way to exercise that right.

None