Canada: Nova Scotia fisheries minister blasts DFO inaction on elver poaching

Nova Scotia Fisheries Minister Kent Smith has written his federal counterpart Diane Lebouthillier stating his “extreme disappointment” with DFO’s management of the elver fishery. A copy of the letter sent Feb. 15, after Lebouthillier announced her intention to not open the commercial elver season this spring due to concerns about rampant poaching and violence, was obtained by The Chronicle Herald. “… In spite of repeated calls from my Department for increased enforcement and prosecutions to curtail the poaching activities, there are no tangible results that indicate your Department is protecting the resource and harvesters, both commercial and indigenous, from illegal activities on the rivers and throughout the black-market value chain,” wrote Smith. “Continued DFO inaction on this file, and this proposed closure, will have no impact on illegal harvesting. The only foreseeable outcome from this proposed closure is financial hardship inflicted upon our law-abiding licence-holders.” ...