RCMP investigate stolen elver nets in Ingramport
Posted Mar 27, 2025 04:47:12 AM.
Last Updated Mar 27, 2025 11:12:04 AM.
Police in Nova Scotia are investigating after two elver fishing nets were stolen earlier this week.
The theft happened in Ingramport, according to Nova Scotia RCMP. Police say they received a report around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday about two elver fishing nets that were taken sometime in the early morning hours.
The nets have an estimated value of $4,000.
As part of their investigation, police obtained images of a person or persons of interest and are asking for the public’s help to identify them.
Tensions high this elver fishing season
Earlier this month, the federal government announced new regulations for the elver fishery in the province, which include limiting catch and logging harvests on a smartphone app after several violent fishing seasons.
But Chief Bob Gloade of Millbrook First Nation penned a letter to the federal fisheries department, saying it won’t abide by federal rules that limit the lucrative catch.
“We the Mi’kmaq of Millbrook have our own management plan that we have authorized under the treaties … We are not regulated by your colonial commercial licensing schemes, nor do we accept your proposed management plan,” the chief wrote.
Canadian baby eels — also known as elvers — are fished in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Maine and shipped live to Asia, where they are grown to maturity. Prices paid for elvers are high, ranging from $1,500 to $5,000 per kilogram in recent years, leading to the sometimes chaotic season.
The plan for the 2025 elver season allocated 50 per cent of the 9,960-kilogram total allowable catch to new entrants from First Nations, shifting quota away from non-Indigenous, commercial licence holders.
Other commenters on the situation say that the decision by Millbrook is not a good sign for the season ahead.
The fishery opened on March 22.
