August 12, 2013 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — Three members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe who were facing civil charges of fishing for elvers without a license have had their cases dismissed because they were charged using the wrong paperwork.
Dozens of members of the tribe are facing civil and criminal elver charges as a result of a dispute between the state and the tribe over what kind of authority the tribe has to determine how many elver fishing licenses it issues to its members. Elvers are juvenile American eels, which are in great demand in Asian markets.
This past March, just as the lucrative elver season was set to begin, the state set a limit of 200 licenses for the Passamaquoddys but the tribe instead issued 575. In response, the Maine Department of Marine Resources declared all but 200 of the tribal licenses to be invalid.
Tribal officials have said they have legal authority to manage their fishery and to issue as many tribal elver licenses as they see fit. In March, however, Maine Attorney General Janet Mills issued a legal opinion that indicated Maine’s “tribal members are subject to Maine’s regulatory authority over marine resources to the same extent as other Maine citizens.”
Before April 23, when fishing for elvers without a license became a criminal offense, any first offense for the infraction was considered a civil violation under Maine law.
In Hancock County, tribal member Christopher Neptune was facing a civil charge of fishing elvers without a license but the charge was dismissed on Aug. 1 by Ellsworth District Court Judge Bruce Mallonee, according to court documents.
Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News