DFO says commercial elver fishers won’t be compensated under new quota plan
Global News
'She thinks she's playing Robin Hood, and in actuality, she's putting these fishermen in a worse-off situation than they currently are,' one licence-holder said.
A federal proposal that would redistribute the overall quota for catching highly lucrative baby eels to individual fishers will not compensate commercial licence-holders who employ those workers, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) says, leaving owners feeling betrayed by the government.
The department first informed Maritime commercial groups and fishermen of the proposed pilot project in a letter in mid-October, designed to combat unlicensed fishing of the baby eels, known as elvers, and violent confrontations that have shut down the last two seasons.
The letter of intent said consultations would be held and asked for feedback on the proposal.
At the time, the department told elver fishers the quota redistribution program sought to “broaden the distribution of benefits” and “would not be accompanied by financial assistance or compensation to existing licence holders,” according to the letter.
More than a month later, a DFO spokesperson told Global News the department is still not considering compensation.
“Fisheries and Oceans Canada is currently conducting consultations on the reallocation of elver quota, without compensation,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement Friday.
“Given the significant increases in elver value and relatively low input costs, the commercial elver fishery presents a unique opportunity to broaden the distribution of the prosperity that can be generated among various types of harvesters, potentially including young harvesters, employees of existing commercial licence holders, and harvesters who participate in co-operative commercial enterprises.”
Commercial licence-holders in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick say the proposal would not only further harm their bottom line but also upset the industry as a whole.
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