PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — April 2, 2013 — Passamaquoddy Indians will keep fishing for lucrative glass eels in the state’s coastal rivers despite a warning from the governor that he might shut down the fishery if the tribe doesn’t follow state regulations, a tribal representative said Tuesday.
State officials say the tribe violated state law by issuing more than 500 licenses to catch the baby eels, known as elvers, which sell for up to $2,000 a pound. State law allows the tribe to issue only 200 licenses.
Gov. Paul LePage told Passamaquoddy Chief Clayton Cleaves in a heated phone call Monday that he would withdraw all support for the tribe and possibly shut down the fishery if the tribe didn’t follow state law, Tribal Council member Newell Lewey said.
The state doesn’t have authority over the tribe on fishing matters because the tribe never relinquished its fishing rights, Lewey maintained. Furthermore, the tribe considers its fishing regulations more conservation-minded than state regulations because the tribe sets a maximum allowable catch while the state puts a limit on licenses but not on how much can be harvested, he said.
Tribal members are going to keep fishing even after Marine Patrol officers and state police confronted four tribal fishermen Sunday night in eastern Maine and seized their fishing gear and after LePage delivered what tribal members considered to be a threat, Lewey said.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe