Fisheries officers have arrested 33 people this year as part of enforcement activities related to the elver fishery in the Maritimes.
Officers worked in southwestern and eastern Nova Scotia and southwestern New Brunswick to promote compliance and protect the integrity of the high-value fishery.
According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, licensed harvesters caught 8,385 kilograms of the 12,180-kilogram total allowable catch this year.
That’s up 17 per cent over last year.
The increased catch created more economic opportunities for harvesters while a portion of the quota supported joint scientific research between DFO and licence holders.
In addition to arrests and seizures of illegal catches, fisheries officers worked with border agents and seized more than 300 kilograms of elver destined for international markets.
The funds generated through the sale of elver caught by licence holders under the Section 10 allocation supported a project proposed by licence holders to complete the 2026 study at the East River-Chester in Lunenburg County, N.S., the index river used to monitor elver returns.
