The federal Fisheries Department closed the elver fishery in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for 45 days last weekend to conserve the stock from poachers.
The order prohibiting fishing signed by the Fisheries and Oceans Minister Saturday says there's been a significant amount of people fishing for eel "outside the authorized fishery"
Elvers, or baby eels, are sold to fish farms in Asia, where they are grown to market size. It's a lucrative fishing industry that has been marred by controversy.
it s a tough life being an eel. arriving on the coast having drifted in the sea for months, tiny baby eels have to make their way upstream through fast flowing water and passed numerous obstacles. they go up a vertical like this. scientists have been monitoring eels in this essex river for 20 years, recording steep declines. compared to the historic number, there s been a 95% decline in young eels coming into fresh water from the ocean. after maturing into adults, growing up to one metre long, european eels swim all the way back across the ocean to reproduce and die. yeah, they ve travelled thousands of kilometres to get here. it s taken up to two years. they will spend several years in the fresh water and then the adults have this huge journey, thousands of kilometres back. it s long been thought they end up in the sargasso sea but until now the facts have been hard to prove.