ELLSWORTH, Maine — February 3, 2015 — As Maine’s 2015 elver season draws near, state officials are looking to adopt a rule that would reduce catch allocations for the state’s four federally-recognized Indian tribes.
Last fall, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission reduced the statewide limit for harvesting elvers in Maine from 11,749 pounds to 9,688 pounds. Maine Department of Marine Resources plans to reduce the individual limit for each nontribal license holder in order to comply with the lower statewide quota and to have the tribes determine lower individual limits for their licensed members.
A public hearing on the proposed rule has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9, at Jeff’s Catering on Littlefield Road in Brewer. Maine’s approximate 10-week elver season is expected to begin on March 22.
Department of Marine Resources officials have said the 9,688-pound limit is about the total amount of elvers that were caught in Maine in 2014 by both tribal and nontribal fishermen.
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