Malloy vetoes glass eel fishing, signs state budget

HARTFORD, Conn. – Gov. Dannel P. Malloy squashed controversial legislation lifting a fishing ban on Glass eels in one of two vetoes Friday. The governor also signed the $18.9 billion state budget plan approved by lawmakers earlier this month.

Malloy vetoed HB 5417, An Act Establishing A Season For The Taking Of Glass Eels, over environmental concerns that the juvenile, translucent American eels could be considered a vulnerable species. The bill would have eliminated a state ban on fishing for the eels but would not have immediately allowed fishermen to begin taking the eels. That would require approval from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

The Democratic-controlled legislature approved the bill on the final night of the legislative session in an agreement with Republicans to assure passage of another environmental bill, which put a three-year moratorium on the storage and disposal of hydraulic fracturing waste in the state.

Following a State Bond Commission meeting Friday, Malloy said the eel fishing bill is premature and would send “mixed messages” because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is in the process of determining whether American eels are a threatened species.

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