More than three dozen people -- 37 to be exact -- have been charged with offenses related to illegal elver fishing in Canada's Maritime provinces in 2024, reports the CBC. 

However, the number of charges is far less than the number of arrests Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) made in 2024. Officers arrested 169 people this year and seized 396.3 kilograms of elvers, the department noted on its website.

Among the cases trickling into court include charges against five people from the US state of Maine, who were arrested by fisheries officers in April near Meteghan River, in the province of Nova Scotia.

Recall that Canada's fisheries minister Diane Lebouthillier shut down the commercial elver fishery in the Maritime provinces this year, saying the decision would help enforcement officers address the issue of illegal fishing, as reported by Undercurrent News. 

Though the combined elver quota for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick is small, around 9,860 kilograms annually since 2006, the value of the catch has been sky-high in recent years, ranging from CAD 3,000 ($2,225)/kg to CAD 5,000/kg in the past decade.

The high prices for elvers have brought poachers to the rivers in both provinces. This has led to dangerous confrontations and evidence of organized crime.

Charges related to the elver fishery require approval by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, a process that has led to months of delays between an arrest and the laying of a charge, reported the CBC.

"Fishery officers are working with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada to complete their ongoing investigations related to enforcement actions taken in 2024 related to unauthorized elver harvesting, which may result in additional charges," the DFO said in a statement to the CBC.