The Department of Fisheries and Ocean seized 18 kilograms of baby eels or elvers back in May and now questions are being raised on the fate of the eels.
The seizure was valued at $90,000, as elvers are the most valuable Canadian seafood product on a per kilo basis.
An anonymous tip received by our newsroom indicated that the eels have been destroyed.
When asked, DFO said they could not comment on the status of the eels as the investigation is still ongoing.
However, a statement from DFO spokesperson Stephen Bornais points to what may have happened. “DFO makes every effort to return fish to their waters after they are seized, but in cases where it is not possible to determine where the fish originate from, they must be destroyed,”
With the elvers being seized at Stanfield International, and not on site it would be virtually impossible to determine their point of origin without the cooperation of the harvesters who originally caught them, who are now subject to the DFO investigation.
Although the elver fishery has declined in recent years, with DFO reducing quotas over the past few years, it still manages to be successful thanks to a strong Asian market for the product.
Typically the eels are shipped to Asia while they are still very young, then they are raised to maturity and sold as a delicacy.
