Passamaquoddy tribe, state reach tentative pact on elvers
A tentative agreement was reached Wednesday between officials with the Maine Department of Marine Resources and representatives of the Passamaquoddy tribe over how the tribe would manage elver licenses and the amount of juvenile American eels that tribal members would be allowed to catch during the 2014 season.
The Bangor Daily News reported that the tribe agreed to cap the total elver catch to 1,650 pounds, but would be allowed to issue as many dip net licenses as it wants.
The newspaper, however, reported the state Attorney General’s office voiced concerns about Passamaquoddy and nontribal fishermen potentially being penalized differently under the agreement, which state attorneys say could violate the equal protection clause of the Maine Constitution.
The newspaper reported that Patrick Keliher, commissioner for the DMR, told members of the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee that his goal is to resolve the lengthy licensing dispute with the tribe and to meet a new mandate from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to reduce the state’s overall elver catch total by 35%, with a cap of roughly 11,750 pounds.
Last year, the tribe issued 575 permits to harvest elvers, which conflicted with a state law specifying that the tribe should issue only 150 tribal permits for use anywhere in the state and 50 dip-net permits for use on the St. Croix River. Earlier this year, prosecutors in Hancock and Washington counties dismissed charges against 24 members of the Passamaquoddy tribe who had been charged by the Maine Marine Patrol with unlicensed elver fishing.
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