For traditional Mi'kmaw adult eel fishers, it's not about the money

Mi'kmaw fishermen thrust a rake-like spear deep into a hole cut in the ice on a river in Antigonish, N.S., during a cold February afternoon, hoping to catch an adult eel and honour the legacy of their ancestors in the process.

"The main thing is to feed our people — the elderly, the sick," said Terry Denny. "It's important you're doing something that you are not getting a cash reward."

Eel, or katew, is a traditional food source for the Mi'kmaq. Ceremonially significant, they're often eaten in a broth as a baby's first meal upon arriving from the spirit world and as an elder's final meal before their trip home to the spirit world.

But some of the fishermen who are keeping the traditional fishery alive are noticing a decline in eel numbers — a sign of powerful forces threatening it.

Nova Scotia is home to the American eel, which the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has classified as an endangered species because of threats such as pollution, climate change and overfishing. 

The recent surge in both commercial and unauthorized fishing for elver, or baby eels, has placed further strain on the species.

The fishing of baby eels can be a hot topic, clouded by judgments, differences in opinions, and undefined treaty rights. This has led to a range of opinions among Mi'kmaq and brought discussions about moderate livelihood harvesting rights to the forefront. 

Kerry Prosper is an elder and knowledge keeper from Paqtnkek Mi'kmaw Nation who feels a connection to his ancestors when he is fishing adult eels, which he has done for most of his life.

Prosper does it to share his catch with his community, although he said he isn't harvesting this year due to the low numbers.

"If the large eels are fished out now into depletion, I can see the elvers falling very fast. But now we have the elver fishing going at the same time, and how are the big eels going to repopulate if they're taking the baby ones?" he said.

The life cycle and movement of eels are surrounded by mystery, and the modern harvesting of eels, surrounded by contention.

The American eel has a complex life cycle that begins in the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic, where adult eels lay eggs that hatch into leaf-like creatures that are transported north and west to North America by way of the Gulf Stream.

By the time they approach the coastlines, they've undergone two transformations: from their transparent leaf-like form into tiny transparent glass eels, and then into pigmented elvers that enter freshwater estuaries to grow into adults.

High demand for eel in Asia, and the collapse of eel fishing in Europe, due to European eels being declared critically endangered, has pushed the market value of elvers as high as $5,000 a kilogram.