Regulations for the possession and export of elvers

Under the Possession and Export of Elvers Regulations (the Elvers Regulations) it is an offence to possess and export domestic and imported American eel elvers without a licence. The Elvers Regulations come into force on March 1, 2025.

On this page

• Licences
  • Possession licence
  • Export licence

Licences

Under the Elvers Regulations, you need a licence to possess and export elvers. There are separate licences for possession and export. Depending on your activities in the supply chain, you may need both.

Below is a breakdown of which supply chain activities are regulated by which licences through conditions of licence.

DFO-issued fishing licences regulate:

• harvesting elvers
• transporting elvers from the river to a holding facility

DFO-issued possession licences regulate:

• introducing and storing Canadian-caught and imported foreign-caught elvers at holding facilities
• transporting elvers between holding facilities and to a place of exit from Canada, such as airports or customs-controlled land border crossings
• packaging and preparing elvers for transport

DFO-issued export licences regulate:

• exporting elvers from Canadian airports (in partnership with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA))

Under the new regulations, it is also an offence to:

• combine elvers legally caught in Canada in the same container as:
  •  foreign-caught elvers of any eel species
  • elvers caught illegally in Canada
• unseal a container that has been sealed for export

Possession and export licence holders will be required to keep records for five years after their licence expires.

Possession licence

You need a possession licence to possess elvers once they have been deposited at a holding facility.

This includes:

• holding facility operators
• fish buyers and processors that possess elvers

You do not need a possession licence if you are:

• an elver fishing licence holder or designate and you are in possession of elvers between harvesting and depositing them at a holding facility specified in your elver fishing licence
• a person who has a licence to fish elvers for experimental, scientific, or educational purposes
• a person who has a licence to transfer elvers to an aquaculture facility or release them into fish habitat
• an operator of a licensed aquaculture facility who is cultivating elvers to grow them to 10cm or greater
• a commercial transporter that has no direct or indirect interest in  elvers
• a person working at an airport who is engaged in handling goods for air transportation
• personnel of the CBSA, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), DFO or a province acting in the course of their duties

Conditions of possession licences:

• specify the address of the holding facility where you are authorized to possess elvers
• require you to clearly label all domestic elver shipments with the following information: contents “Live Juvenile Eels (Elvers),” wet weight of elvers (kgs), and possession licence numbers of the sender and domestic recipient
• require you to report on all transfers in and transfers out of each holding facility, including the sources of incoming elver and the destinations and transporters of outgoing elver
• require you to notify DFO 48 hours in advance of when you expect to prepare a shipment for export, and provide the anticipated weight of the elvers, anticipated date of export, and the anticipated transporter and airport of export
• describe the requirements that must be met to prepare a container of elvers for export, including related to sealing and labelling
• restrict the number of persons who are authorized under a possession licence to possess elvers offsite of the possession licence holder’s holding facility for the purposes of transport
• require you to notify DFO in advance of taking possession of imported elver at an international airport or a customs-controlled land border crossing 

Obtaining and transferring elvers

Possession licence holders are responsible for ensuring they obtain elvers from and transfer elvers to individuals authorized to possess elvers.

For elvers destined for export, a possession licence holder may:  

• obtain elvers from fishing licence holders, other possession licence holders, or commercial transporters
• transfer elvers to other possession licence holders, to airport personnel or to commercial transporters

Export licence

You need an export licence if you arrange for elvers to be exported from Canada.

An export licence is specific to the activity of exporting. It does not grant the holder the authority to physically possess elvers.

If you are an exporter, you also require a possession licence to physically possess elvers. 

There are no exemptions for export licences.

Conditions of export licences require export holders to:

• declare certain information about each elver export shipment to the CBSA
• meet export requirements set out by the CBSA