DFO plans to take half the elver quota from commercial harvesters for First Nations of Canada

Published 2024년 6월 14일

Tridge summary

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is contemplating transferring half of the elver fishery's total allowable catch (TAC) to First Nations, without any financial assistance or compensation to the commercial elver harvesters. This plan is aimed at redistributing benefits to First Nations communities interested in participating in the fishery. The DFO may also shift commercial harvesters to different rivers to accommodate First Nations' access to productive areas. This decision has sparked criticism from commercial elver harvesters, who feel they are being expropriated without fair compensation. This situation marks a shift from the DFO's previous strategy of buying commercial fishery access and transferring it to First Nations communities.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans told commercial elver harvesters this week that it’s considering transferring half of their quotas to First Nations without compensation. “One goal of the department is to review access in the fishery and how to more broadly distribute the benefits to First Nations who have expressed an interest in participating,” reads the June 10 letter signed by Jacinta Berthier, DFO’s regional director of fisheries management. “The department is considering potential allocation on an ongoing basis of 50 per cent of the elver fishery’s total allowable catch (TAC) across interested First Nations in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to support First Nations’ fishing plans supported by licences issued under the Aboriginal Commercial Fishing Licences Regulations … The redistribution would not be accompanied by financial assistance or compensation to existing licence holders.” The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Chronicle Herald, goes on to state that ...

Source: Saltwire