PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — February 27, 2014 — The start of Maine’s lucrative elver season next month could be delayed by two weeks or more as the state resolves an ongoing dispute with the Passamaquoddy tribe, the commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources said Friday.
Commissioner Patrick Keliher said there is a ‘‘fifty-fifty’’ chance the season will not start on time on March 22 because the state will need time to validate tribal licenses following approval of an emergency bill addressing conservation efforts.
‘‘It would be my hope that we will not have to delay the start of the season by more than two weeks,’’ he told The Associated Press.
Elvers, as the baby eels are known, have come under scrutiny since prices ballooned to $2,000 a pound amid increased demand from overseas operations that raise them and sell them for food.
The state and the tribe are in agreement on the size of the limits to be imposed as the state aims to reduce the amount of elvers caught by fishermen. But they've yet to agree on how the limits would be imposed on tribal fishermen.
The emergency bill outlines that tribes in Maine must allocate their fishermen individual quotas from the 1,650 pounds they are allowed to catch. Previously, the state had reached an agreement with the tribes that they did not need to issue individual quotas as long as they didn’t exceed the overall limit.
But the attorney general raised constitutional concerns over having different sets of regulations for two groups of fishermen, and the commissioner withdrew support of the agreement.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe