As the elver season opens, a First Nation is pushing back hard against DFO

Richard Cuthbertson · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 5:28 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

In the coming weeks, Matthew Cope volition anchor his cone-shaped fyke nett on a river, and arsenic the overnight hours creep by and the water tide comes in, helium volition drawback tiny but highly lucrative juvenile eels.

He volition bash so, however, without authorization from the Department of Fisheries, asserting that arsenic a Mi'kmaw harvester, helium has a pact close to food for the young eels, known arsenic elvers, adjacent extracurricular of national regulations.

He expects to beryllium stopped, and adjacent arrested by fisheries officers, arsenic helium was past twelvemonth during an elver seizure astatine a transport installation successful Dartmouth, N.S.

"I'm going to archer them what I ever archer them," helium said successful an interrogation this week connected Millbrook First Nation successful cardinal Nova Scotia. 

"I'm going to accidental I'm not hiding from you, I'm doing what I'm constitutionally allowed to do. I'm sportfishing successful pursuit of a mean livelihood, and I person each close to bash so."

The regulated play for elvers is acceptable to unfastened this play on Nova Scotia and New Brunswick rivers, with DFO imposing a fig of regulations aimed astatine bringing power to what's been a chaotic fishery successful caller years.

But earlier this month, Millbrook Chief Bob Gloade issued a powerfully worded missive to DFO officials, outlining the band's refusal to abide by the government's elver absorption program and informing of unspecified actions if fisheries officers "harass" its members.

"We are not regulated by your assemblage commercialized licensing schemes, nor bash we judge your projected absorption plan," said the letter, which was addressed to Jennifer Ford, the elver reappraisal manager astatine the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

DFO has been acrophobic astir wide unauthorized harvesting successful caller years driven by skyrocketing prices for elvers, which are shipped unrecorded to Asia and past raised for nutrient successful aquaculture facilities.

Some of those sportfishing extracurricular of DFO's licence authorities person been Mi'kmaq asserting an Indigenous and pact close to drawback elvers and merchantability them. Others are non-Indigenous, simply cashing successful connected the boom.

This season, DFO has plucked fractional the wide quota of 9,960 kilograms from commercialized licence holders, galore of them pioneers successful the fishery, and handed it to 20 First Nations successful Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

But Gloade argues that erstwhile the quota is divvied up among truthful galore groups, it doesn't magnitude to overmuch for each fisherman. The set has tried for respective years to asseverate its rights, helium said, but has been frustrated by DFO's insistence that Millbrook indispensable travel national rules.

"It's the large member mentality, that doctrine that 'Our mode is close and your mode is wrong,'" Gloade said successful an interrogation astatine the Millbrook set office. 

"And that's the cognition that we nary longer privation to accept. I said, 'We tin govern ourselves, we tin make our ain plans.' We don't request DFO to archer america however to bash things."

Gloade said Millbrook's ain elver program is acceptable to beryllium approved by assembly adjacent week. He emphasized that information on the riversides, which person been the tract of threats and adjacent unit successful erstwhile years, is important for Millbrook harvesters.

The set has hired 2 erstwhile DFO officers, helium said, and there's a squad successful spot to tally the fishery. There volition beryllium logging requirements and accountability, helium said. His missive said harvest numbers and stream locations volition beryllium shared with DFO nether the band's "good neighbour policy," but lone astatine the extremity of the season.

In a connection Thursday, a DFO spokesperson said the section is committed to reconciliation, and "has a cardinal relation to enactment the implementation of pact rights."

But the connection besides said the courts person upheld the national government's relation successful licensing the fishery, including the workout of inherent and pact rights.

One of the large changes this twelvemonth volition beryllium the request for anyone with an elver sportfishing oregon possession licence to log reports done a traceability app.

"All aspects of the fishery, from the stream to the constituent of export, are taxable to compliance verification by fishery officers, who behaviour inspections crossed each fisheries regulated by the department, including commercial, communal commercialized and rights-based fisheries successful the pursuit of a mean livelihood," the connection said. 

"Fishing enactment occurring without a required licence oregon not successful compliance with conditions of licence is taxable to enforcement action."

Gloade said Millbrook volition wage for lawyers for members sportfishing nether the band's program who are charged by DFO nether the Fisheries Act.

In his letter, helium said fisheries officers volition lone beryllium allowed connected Millbrook onshore with the support of the main and council, and are different barred from inspecting elver holding facilities.

"Should immoderate of your fisheries officers proceed to harass oregon infringe our members' rights, you and your section volition beryllium astatine hazard of actions against you," the missive said.

For commercialized licence holders, DFO's speech of enforcement needs to beryllium backed up by much arrests and stiffer fines. Riverside cameras acceptable up this period person already spotted radical sportfishing earlier the play opened.

"For the astir part, I deliberation astir First Nations communities spot the payment of moving with DFO successful this fishery," said Stanley King, with Atlantic Elver Fishery Ltd., a commercialized licence holder whose quota was chopped without compensation.

"I deliberation we person a fewer that don't privation to play by the rules, which means that there's not going to beryllium immoderate accountability, it's going to wounded traceability, it's going to undermine marketplace worth of the fish."