Question Period Note: Status of Elvery Fishery

• Since the launch of the elver fishery review in June 2023, my Department has been working with industry, First Nations, and other stakeholders to chart a path forward. We have made significant progress in implementing changes to improve the management of the fishery, but there is still more work to do to evaluate the effectiveness of these changes during and after the 2025 fishery.
• To build a sustainable, safe, orderly, and well-managed fishery, changes were made in three key areas: enhancing access for Indigenous communities; establishing new possession and export regulations; and updated management measures, including the development of an Elver Monitoring and Traceability application.
• Together, these changes have helped to ensure an orderly and sustainable fishery for the 2025 fishing season and future seasons.

• Elvers are juvenile American Eels. All American eel originate from the same spawning location in the Sargasso Sea and are therefore all of the same genetic makeup. They are considered a single global population. The American eel population decreased across eastern Canada and recent science has indicated the population has remained at a low, stable level. American Eel was assessed as threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada in 2012, triggering the requirement for a listing decision under the Species at Risk Act. Canada is currently considering options. If listed, prohibitions would apply.
• The elver fishery is managed with a total allowable catch (TAC) and site-specific river catch limits set for each fishing location (rivers, streams, brooks) in licences. The TAC of 9,960 kilograms has remained in place since 2005.
• In 2022 and 2023, First Nation access was reallocated from existing licence holder TAC. The Department participated in a Judicial Review (JR) brought by three non-Indigenous elver licence holders who disagreed with the approach to reallocating the 2022 quota and were successful. The Department was successful in a JR of the 2024 TAC decision. Additional JRs have been brought to the Department.
• In comparison to other commercial fisheries, the investments required at the harvest level are relatively low. Coupled with its high value, there is significant unauthorized harvesting in this fishery.
• Fishing outside the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) authorized commercial elver fishery has steadily increased over the last decade. DFO received numerous complaints of disputes between harvesters and responded to incidents of fishing gear tampering and situations involving threats to harvesters and Fishery Officers, intimidation, and vandalism of public property. In the spring of 2020 and 2023, the Minister issued a Fisheries Management Order to close the fishery.
• On March 11, 2024, former Minister Lebouthillier announced that the elver fishery would not open for the 2024 season due to conservation and safety concerns.
• Due to the limited extent of access held by First Nations that assert a credible claim to fish elvers for a moderate livelihood, there was considerable risk of ongoing and high levels of unauthorized fishing by Indigenous communities in the Maritimes Region. DFO considered that greater access by First Nations to the elver fishery could help mitigate these risks. On January 24, 2025, the former Minister announced that 50 per cent of the commercial elver quota would be reallocated from non-Indigenous commercial licence holders for the 2025 season to support the further implementation of the right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood. New Regulations, requiring a DFO-issued licence for the possession and export of elver came into force on March 1, 2025.
• New management measures have been developed, including the Elver Monitoring and Traceability application, which is required by all fishing and possession licence holders to report in the fishery in 2025.
• During consultations, the Department gathered feedback on an additional potential reallocation (in addition to the 50 per cent) which could be used to accommodate other new (non-commercial) entrants to the fishery. However, after considering the feedback received, the former Minister announced her decision that the 2025 elver fishing season will not include the pilot program on January 24, 2025.
• The fishery was opened on March 22, 2025.
• The outcome of the changes implemented for the 2025 season will be evaluated during and following the 2025 fishing season.

If pressed on the Elver Monitoring and Traceability application:
• As of March 1, 2025, anyone in possession of foreign-caught, imported elvers in Canada is required to have an elver possession licence and to report through the Elver Monitoring and Traceability application.
• Traceability is critical to ensuring a sustainable and orderly fishery and the new Elver Monitoring and Traceability application allows the Department to track the possession and the movement of elvers from harvest to export.
• The elver fishery opened on March 22, 2025 with these regulatory and management changes in place. All licence holders must report fishing activity and movement of elvers through the Elver Monitoring and Traceability application.
• To help with enforcement, Fishery Officers can use the Elver Monitoring and Traceability application to monitor authorized elver fishing, possession, and export.

If pressed on enforcement of the elver fishery:
• Fishery Officers have a strong presence at riverside, at holding facilities, and at export points to ensure compliance with regulations and conditions of licence to support the sustainability and orderly management of the elver fishery.
• Not all enforcement actions are visible: Fishery Officers have a range of compliance measures that they can use depending on the particular situation. Any compliance measures taken are based on numerous factors, including the severity of the offence, and the context in which it was committed.
• While Fishery Officers are observing overall high levels of compliance; arrests have been made for violations of the Fisheries Act. Associated investigations are underway.

If pressed on the safety of Maritimes Region Fishery Officers
• The health and safety of our Fishery Officers remains our top concern. These are dedicated, well-trained professionals, and acts of violence and threats toward them are not tolerated.
• Fishery Officers have received new equipment and training to support their safety, and a review of policies related to Fishery Officer safety is underway.
• Additionally, both the new possession regulations introduced on March 1, 2025, as well as expanded access for First Nations, are designed and expected to help reduce the number of unauthorized harvesters on rivers and accordingly, opportunities for violence.

If pressed on the 50 per cent reallocation to support fishing in pursuit of a moderate livelihood:
• Providing Indigenous access in fisheries has been an integral part of the Government’s mandate to advance reconciliation with First Nations.
• As part of ongoing work to improve the management of the elver fishery, my Department consulted with First Nations and engaged with existing commercial licence holders on quota reallocation.
• In January 2025, my predecessor made a decision to increase First Nations participation in the elver fishery through a 50 per cent redistribution of the fishery access and total allowable catch to First Nations communities.
• The former Minister’s decision was implemented with the opening of the fishery in 2025, which included fishery access and distribution of communal licences to 19 First Nations communities in the Maritimes Region.
 
If pressed on the federal court ruling that the 2023 elver quota decision was procedurally unfair:
• The Federal Court ruling is being reviewed and my Department and I have no further comment while we consider next steps.

If pressed on compensation to licence holders:
• In order to have a sustainable, long-term fishery, changes were needed.
• Decisions on access to Canada’s valuable fisheries are made every day, including decisions to close or drastically reduce fishing efforts to conserve species. While these decisions have an economic impact on the participants of those fisheries, these decisions do not necessarily result in compensation to licence holders.

If pressed on whether similar allocation decisions will be made in other fisheries:
• The "willing buyer, willing seller" approach remains the preferred approach. However, given significant increases in value and relatively low input costs at the harvester level, the commercial elver fishery presented a unique opportunity to re-allocate access to advance reconciliation by reducing the long-standing socio-economic gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, without compensation.
• The decision to reallocate access in this fishery does not set a precedent for similar decisions to be made for other fisheries.

If pressed on why voluntary relinquishment was not pursued this year:
· The economic benefits of the elver fishery have previously been held by nine licence holders. Allocating increased quota to Indigenous harvesters more broadly distributes the benefits of the fishery and reduces long-standing socio-economic gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.