By Michael Tutton -CP-Ottawa has issued the latest version of how it is proposing to distribute licences for the lucrative baby eel fishery in the Maritimes. In a letter to stakeholders on Monday, the Fisheries Department says it is maintaining its plan to shift half the quota of close to 10,000 kilograms of elvers away from nine large licence holders to new entrants from Indigenous communities. However, Ottawa confirms it is backing away from a pilot project to redistribute 27 per cent of the catch of the nine licence holders to 120 fishers who used to work for them. That old pilot proposal, introduced in December, drew strong criticism from the potential recipients, who said they preferred to remain employees and felt safer on the rivers under the existing arrangement….
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