Suspended Elver Licenses in Maine to Serve as Buffer Against Overharvesting

All licensed elver fishermen, whether or not they are members of Maine’s federally recognized Indian tribes, are facing a reduction in their individuals quotas for the 2015 elver season because of a decision made last fall by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. In 2014, the total statewide quota was 11,749 pounds, but for 2015 it will be 9,688 pounds, which is the total approximate amount that actually was harvested last year.

Fishermen who attended a public hearing Monday night on the Maine Department of Marine Resource’s proposed rules for the 2015 elver fishing season were told that, unlike the 2014 season, active fishermen will not have part of their individual quotas withheld for the 2015 season. The reason DMR put a five percent buffer in place last year for each fisherman was to prevent overfishing and possible penalties from the interstate fisheries commission.

No individual buffer will be in place this year, DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher said Monday, because enough fishermen will have their licenses suspended for not paying overfishing fines from last season that their inactive quotas will function as a buffer. Information about how many fishermen might be facing such license suspensions was not available Tuesday.

Saving Seafoods, Feb. 10, 2015