ELLSWORTH, Maine — New rules for the elver fishery that were overwhelmingly approved Tuesday by the Legislature will result in a delay of at least two weeks to the start of the season, according to state officials.

Jeff Nichols, spokesman for the Maine Department of Marine Resources, said Tuesday that because of the time needed to work out the logistics of the new measures, the season is not expected to start until next month, most likely sometime after April 5.

The bill approved Tuesday by the House and Senate, LD 1625, establishes the percentage of the statewide catch limit that will be reserved for Maine's Indian tribes and gives DMR authority to set individual quotas for non-tribal fishermen. According to the bill, it will be up to the tribes to decide the amount that each individual tribal fisherman will be allowed to catch.

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