HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government is against a proposed federal pilot project that would redistribute the fishing quota for commercial licence holders in the lucrative elver fishery.

In an end-of-year interview with The Canadian Press, Premier Tim Houston says he doesn’t think it’s a good idea to redistribute licences to people already working for commercial elver fishing companies.

Houston says his government has made its opposition known to federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier.

His office released a letter sent by provincial Fisheries Minister Kent Smith to Lebouthillier on Tuesday calling the pilot project a “fundamentally unfair approach to fisheries management.”

Smith says that adding up to 150 new participants in the baby eel fishery would make it significantly harder to monitor and control illegal activities.

The federal Fisheries Department is offering licences to 120 fishers currently employed by commercial licence holders — representing 27 per cent of the overall quota.

A further 1.5 per cent of the quota would be allocated to licences offered to 30 fishers who currently catch adult eels.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2024.

The Canadian Press