Feds not prosecuting unlicensed elver fishing charges in Canada

Commercial elver licence holders were told Jan. 10 that the Public Prosecution Service of Canada won’t be prosecuting Fisheries Act charges laid against First Nations members for catching elvers without a licence approved by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. “(The department told us the) Public Prosecution Service of Canada has said that they will not proceed with charges against First Nations until they have a meaningful share of the elver fishery,” said Brian Giroux, managing partner at the Shelburne Elver fishing co-operative. The statement was confirmed by Stanley King of Atlantic Elver Fishery, who was also at the meeting, and by a transcript of the elver review meeting obtained by The Chronicle Herald. It aligns with internal Fisheries and Oceans Canada correspondence during last year’s elver fishery obtained by The Chronicle Herald through a freedom of information request. It would be a continuation of a policy by federal authorities that has coincided with large-scale ...