PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The Passamaquoddy Tribe will abide by state fishing rules for the elver season that kicks off this weekend, ending the threat of conflict with state regulators, a tribal chief said Friday.
The Joint Tribal Council grudgingly agreed to amend tribal law to accept the state mandate of individual quotas for its elver fishermen, Indian Township Chief Joseph Socobasin told The Associated Press. The tribe initially rejected individual catch limits because it believes natural resources belong to all tribal members.
It was a difficult decision for a tribe that believes it has the right to regulate its own fishermen, Socobasin said.
“If I had voted, I would’ve voted not to fish,” said Socobsin, who’s allowed to vote only in the event of a tie. “It doesn’t sit well with me. I’m not satisfied with how things had turned out.”
Elvers are baby eels that have ballooned in value in recent years to become the second most valuable fishery in the state behind lobster. Last year’s catch was worth $33 million.
Socobasin said ignoring state law wasn’t up for consideration by the tribal council, which met for four days over the past week before voting Thursday to accept individual quotas as mandated by the Department of Marine Resources. The only items on the table were to obey the law or not fish at all, he said.
The state established catch limits after concerns about overfishing were raised by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which had originally considered closing the fishery. The commission will review the elver fishery again at the end of the season.
This year’s elver season opens Sunday.
The tribe has submitted license requests for several hundred fishermen, Socobasin said. A handful of tribal fishermen refused to fill out the state paperwork in protest and won’t fish, he added.
Because of the delay, Passamaquoddy fishermen won’t be able to fish for elvers on Sunday because they don’t have state-issued swipe cards necessary to sell elvers at licensed dealers.
The tribe originally negotiated a deal with the Maine Department of Marine Resources that called for the tribe to have an overall quota of 1,650 pounds, but no individual quotas. The deal fell through after the attorney general advised that having two sets of rules for fishermen violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
“We almost got there but at the end of the day there were legal issues that we couldn’t ignore,” Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher said Friday.
He said he was pleased that the tribe agreed to quotas, easing tensions over the season. “That’s certainly going to be good news from our perspective,” he said.
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