New elver rules delay season opening
The upcoming elver season will be delayed by at least two weeks after lawmakers approved new rules Tuesday to parcel out a regional catch quota among state-licensed fishermen and those authorized to fish by Maine’s Indian tribes.
The Bangor Daily News reported the new law meets a regional regulator's order for Maine to cut its elver catch by 35% from last year, to no more than 11,749 pounds. The bill clearing the Legislature Tuesday allots 22% of the catch to tribal entities, with the rest to be split among the state’s 432 non-tribal fishermen. The state’s Department of Marine Resources has yet to decide how to determine the new individual catch limits for those fishermen. Tribal authorities are also expected to provide fishermen with individual catch limits. The Passamaquoddy Tribe, which will receive more than half of the fishing quota allotted to tribal entities, has opposed setting individual quotas on its fishermen.
The state plans to implement a swipe card system to monitor individual catch limits for state-licensed fishermen.
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