Nova ScotiaThe federal government has decided against listing the American eel under the Species at Risk Act, a move that comes after more than a decade of indecision and years of chaos and controversy in the lucrative Maritime fishery for juvenile eels, also known as elvers.Fishery for juvenile eels along N.S., N.B. rivers has generated much wealth, but also controversyRichard Cuthbertson · CBC News · Posted: Dec 03, 2025 4:09 PM EST | Last Updated: 18 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 6 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Baby eels, also known as elvers, swim in a tank after being caught in the Penobscot River on May 15, 2021, in Brewer, Maine. (Robert F. Bukaty/The Associated Press)The federal government has decided against listing the American eel under the Species at Risk Act, a move that comes after more than a decade of indecision and years of chaos and controversy in the lucrative Maritime fishery for juvenile eels, also known as elvers.The decision is being both welcomed and criticized, with the commercial elver sector noting that listing the eel as a species at risk would have shut down the industry, while other observers have urged for it to be protected for conservation reasons.American eel was first assessed as a species of “special concern” in 2006 by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife. In 2012, the advisory group designated it as threatened, but for 13 years the federal government would not decide whether to formally list it as a species at risk.In a news release issued Tuesday, the federal government said it came to its decision after considering “the best available scientific and socioeconomic data,” and comments from Indigenous groups, provinces, stakeholders and the Canadian public.Commercial licence-holder Stanley King of Atlantic Elver Fishery is shown in a file photo. (David Laughlin/CBC)Stanley King, with commercial licence-holder Atlantic Elver Fishery Ltd., said the decision not to list the species could spur investment in fledgling Maritime-based eel aquaculture now that there’s certainty that the fishery for elvers, which are needed as seed stock, will continue.It also potentially opens the door, he said, for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to re-examine the annual total allowable catch (TAC) for the fishery, which has sat at 9,960 kilograms for two decades.“We’ll have to wait and see what the government thinks about how much they can reasonably and precautionarily increase the TAC,” he said Wednesday. “I will say, though, that this was the right decision by the government of Canada, and we applaud that, because eel populations have been stable for the last three decades.”Lucrative, but fraughtTiny juvenile American eels are fished using nets during the spring as they enter Nova Scotia and New Brunswick rivers from the sea. The elvers are shipped live to Asia, where they are raised in aquaculture facilities and then sold for food.Over the last decade, demand has pushed the price for elvers skyward, fetching upwards of $4,000 per kilogram in recent years. That lead to widespread unauthorized fishing, coupled with threats and violence. The federal government has sought to bring the fishery under control, bringing in new regulations and greater enforcement.Some Mi’kmaq have asserted they have a treaty right to fish for elvers and sell the catch, and Ottawa has plucked substantial quota from a number of commercial licence holders and given it to First Nations.Some First Nations have agreed to fish under the federal rules, while others have refused to abide by the management plan and have instead developed their own.WATCH | Traditional Mi’kmaw eel fishing:How eel fishing is changing for the Mi’kmaq trying to preserve itThe modern Mi’kmaw winter harvest of adult eels is a profound act of cultural preservation. The CBC’s Sis’moqon ventured onto the ice to learn more about how a large-scale elver fishery challenges its future.Commercial licence holders have pointed to numbers from a longstanding study in the East River near Chester, N.S., that show an increase in elvers coming into the waterway, and they have argued the population in Nova Scotia is healthy.But the federal government had been under pressure to list American eel as a species at risk from some conservation and Indigenous groups, particularly in Ontario where obstructions such as hydro-electric dams have badly damaged populations.There’s also been opposition to the elver fishery in Nova Scotia, including from some Mi’kmaq who have traditionally fished for adult eel as a food source. Kerry Prosper, an elder with Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation near Antigonish, N.S., said Wednesday he is dismayed with the federal government��’s decision not to list the species, and believes the “damage is already done.”He said decades ago, it was possible to catch well over a dozen eels from a single hole cut in the ice in Antigonish Harbour, but now multiple holes are needed to harvest just a handful.He argues that while the commercial sector may see what they view as large amounts of elvers swimming up river, the adult eel population has “crashed.”“The only answer is to shut that elver fishery down for everybody,” he said.“Think of the eel itself. Think of all the other forms of life that depend on the elvers to live and maybe the eel population will come back, for food, for recreation. And if it comes back real good, maybe commercial.”Kerry Prosper stands with his summer eel spear in this file photo. He says his family has been spearing eels for generations and he is grateful to pass on the teachings to the next generations. (Galen McRae/CBC)In its statement, the federal government said the American eel would be managed under the Fisheries Act, which will allow the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to address potential threats.Katie Schleit, the fisheries director with the marine conservation group Oceans North, said the decision is a long time coming but not a surprise, given the socioeconomic importance of the species to many harvesters in the Maritimes.She said the population is hard to assess, given its “unique features,” including the fact American eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda. The key will be what evidence-based plans the department of fisheries puts in place, she said, adding the illegal trade in elvers remains a significant concern.But she said falling back on the Fisheries Act isn’t necessarily a bad thing, pointing to the decision by the government in 2017 not to list the bluefin tuna under the Species at Risk Act. A number of countries, including Canada, acted to help rebuild the stock.“And that’s why in some cases we’ve always said that it’s better to have a decision and so that there’s a clear kind of management lane, if you will, guiding the species recovery as opposed to just being in limbo, which is the case with almost all of the marine species that are pending,” she said.WATCH | Tom Murphy’s interview with Stanley King:American eel won’t be listed under Species at Risk ActStanley King with the Atlantic Elver Fishery Ltd. explains the potential impact of this decision after years of controversy around the fishery. MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORRichard Cuthbertson is a journalist with CBC Nova Scotia. He can be reached at richard.cuthbertson@cbc.ca.
Federal government decides it wont list American eel as species at risk
