May 7, 2015 — Tensions between state and local Passamaquoddy officials over elver fishing increased late Wednesday when the Department of Marine Resources announced it was taking emergency action to restrict what kind of gear tribal sustenance fishermen can use.
In a prepared statement released after 5 p.m., department officials indicated that the department is banning the use of fyke nets by members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe who have been issued tribal sustenance licenses.
Such licenses are intended to allow tribal members to fish for food or other personal use, but Department of Marine Resources officials said they are concerned sustenance fishermen who use large, funnel-shaped nets may be catching large amounts of the baby eels and then, in violation of state law, selling their catch to take advantage of high prices.
Demand for elvers has increased sharply in the past five years, boosting the value of Maine’s annual elver harvest from about half a million dollars in 2010 to $40 million in 2012. The value of Maine’s statewide harvest dipped to $8.4 million last year, when fishermen on average earned $874 per pound, but prices so far this season have risen back to about $2,000 per pound.
The department and the tribe have been skirmishing over the elver fishery for the past several years, though they have not feuded publicly since the start of the 2014 season. In 2012, the tribe caught Department of Marine Resources officials off guard when the tribe issued 236 licenses to its members. A year later, the Passamaquoddys caused a furor when they issued more licenses than the Legislature had approved for the tribe.
Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News