Possession and Export of Elvers Regulations

If you run a holding facility where elvers are stored after harvest, buy and sell elvers, or export them to Asia, you will need one or both new licences — a possession licence and/or an export licence — renewed annually. Holding facility operators (estimated at about 60 facilities, mostly in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Ontario) face the biggest compliance burden: you'll need to file daily inventory and transfer reports with DFO for the full 120-day fishing season, keep separate tanks for Canadian-caught versus imported elvers, label all domestic shipments, and maintain records for at least five years. Exporters (roughly 35 businesses) must notify DFO 48 hours before packaging a shipment, have a fishery officer verify and seal each export container with a unique DFO-issued number, and report details on every shipment. Total industry compliance costs are estimated at approximately $2.2 million over 10 years — about $317,000 per year across all affected businesses — with the average annualized administrative cost per business running around $574.