Baby eel fisher calls for enforcement against illegal harvesting on N.S. river

Indigenous fishers dip for elvers on the Hubbards River, in Hubbards, N.S., on April 15, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kelly Clark

A licensed baby eel fisher says he’s been sending evidence to the federal Fisheries Department of illegal fishing on a Nova Scotia river, but he says Ottawa is not acting.

Stanley King, manager of Atlantic Elver Fishery, says he has sent videos and images of unlicensed fishers on the Ingram River, about 40 kilometres southwest of Halifax.

However, King says he’s unaware of any fisheries officers showing up at the location to enforce the law.

He says he believes the total allowable catch of the tiny eels -- which have been selling for about $1,500 per kilogram -- has been far exceeded on the river.

Atlantic Elver Fishery is among the group of commercial licence holders who have lost half their quota to Indigenous fishers without compensation from the federal government.

The federal Fisheries Department changed the quota system after closing the fishing season last year due to chaos and violence on the rivers, and said unlicensed fishers would be prosecuted.

A spokeswoman for the department said that due to the large number of Nova Scotia rivers involved in the elver fishery, “officers may not be able to respond in real time.”

“Fishery officers do follow up on reports of unauthorized activity and have done so at the Ingram River. The Ingram River is a part of regular patrols,” Debra Buott-Matheson wrote in an email on Wednesday.

She confirmed that the licensed catch limit for the Ingram River was recently reached.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2025.