By\u00a0\u00a0John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Indigenous nation whose traditional area has been at the heart of the lucrative trade in baby eels is calling for a moratorium to allow the threatened species to recover. Paul Williams, the lead negotiator for the Peskotomuhkati or Passamaquoddy Nation in southwestern New Brunswick, says the season should be closed until scientists can prove the delicate creatures, often called elvers or glass eels when they are young, aren’t at risk of being wiped out. “For the past three years, the Peskotomuhkati council has been saying, ‘suspend the harvest completely, nobody should be harvesting these critters.'” Williams told Brunswick News, referring to the three-member council led by Chief Hugh Akagi, himself a former scientist with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, or DFO…. <\/p>\n
By\u00a0\u00a0John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The Indigenous nation whose traditional area has been at the heart of the lucrative trade in baby eels is calling for a moratorium to allow the threatened species to recover. Paul Williams, the lead negotiator for the Peskotomuhkati or Passamaquoddy Nation in southwestern New Brunswick, says the season should be closed until scientists can prove the delicate creatures, often called elvers or glass eels when they are young, aren’t at risk of being wiped out. “For the past three years, the Peskotomuhkati council has been saying, ‘suspend the harvest completely, nobody should be harvesting these critters.’” Williams told Brunswick News, referring to the three-member council led by Chief Hugh Akagi, himself a former scientist with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, or DFO.... <\/p>\n