Tribal leader sued for revealing secret fishing spot on social media
Photo / David Clough
Maine's elver fishery was until relatively recently unregulated, giving it a Wild West feel. Now, high prices, demand from Asian markets and state catch limits have changed the business.
Two lawsuits around the tribal elver fishery were recently filed by members of the Passamaquoddy tribe, including one alleging that posting a harvester's landing reports on social media deprived that fisherman of future earnings by revealing his elver fishing locations.
The Quoddy Tides reported that Chris Sepsa Altvater filed suit in tribal court against the Joint Tribal Council over its decision to retroactively impose a penalty on tribal members who did not turn in elver landing reports on time for the 2016 season. The penalty includes a fine, quota reduction and restricting elver harvesters dip nets instead of weir nets. The lawsuit says the council can’t impose a penalty after the fact, and asks for restoration of the quota.
Charles Neptune brought suit in U.S. District Court against Indian Township Passamaquoddy Chief William Nicholas. The Quoddy Tides reported the suit alleges Nicholas violated the federal Privacy Act of 1974 by posting Neptune's elver fishing landing reports on social media, thus depriving Neptune of future earnings by revealing fishing locations.
The elver fishery, which begins this month, is regulated on a quota system. This year’s total allowable catch for non-tribal fishermen is 7,566 pounds. A total of 2,122 pounds allowable catch is allocated to the tribes, with 1,284 pounds going to the Passamaquoddy Tribe, 620 pounds to the Penobscot Nation, 107 pounds to the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and 39 pounds to the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians.
While the non-tribal fishery is limited in entry to a lottery system, the tribal fisheries favor open access, with each fisherman allowed a small quota.
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