HALIFAX—Oceans North is welcoming new regulations on the possession and export of elvers, which should help curb illegal fishing and ensure this fishery can operate more sustainably.

Earlier this year, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) cancelled the 2024 elver fishing season due to issues around safety and conservation. “There have been many concerns about the status of this fishery and how it’s being monitored and managed,” says John Couture, Oceans North’s Senior Fisheries Advisor. “These regulations should help lay the groundwork for a healthier and safer fishery.”

Elvers, sometimes known as glass eels, are juvenile American eels and have become increasingly valuable over the last decade. The elvers harvested in the rivers of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are typically shipped live to aquaculture facilities in Asia, where they are grown to full size. However, there are concerns about the overall health of the American eel population: the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada assessed it as “threatened” in 2012, and DFO has been considering whether American eel should be listed under the Species at Risk Act for almost a decade.

Last week, DFO Minister Diane Lebouthillier appeared at the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans and confirmed that new regulations would soon come into force for the elver fishery. These were published in the Canada Gazette Part II earlier today, and they include a number of measures that should make it more difficult to illegally sell and export elvers while supporting a sustainable fishery going forward.

“We support the changes to the regulatory regime and hope it increases some certainty when it comes to harvest, trade, and advancing traceability,” Couture says. “As a member of the Scotia-Fundy Region Elver Advisory Committee, we look forward to continued engagement on ensuring best practices are in place and that the elver fishery is well managed. We also encourage the federal government to have these regulations fully in place well in advance of the 2025 fishing season to ensure maximum effectiveness.”

For more information, please contact:

Alex Tesar
Communications Director
Oceans North
[email protected]