Tag Archives: surf clam licence

Fisheries and Oceans quietly cancels plans to award Indigenous surf clam licence

The federal government says it has cancelled plans to issue a controversial clam fishing licence to a First Nations company with ties to the Liberal party and several sitting Liberal MPs — including the former fisheries minister. A news release from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans says the process to issue a fourth licence to harvest arctic surf clam off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia was cancelled in early July, and that it won’t be issued this year at all. That multimillion-dollar licence was supposed to go to the Five Nations Clam Co., a company court documents suggest did not initially meet key eligibility requirements spelled out in the government’s tender process. >click to read<15:16

Clearwater throws cold water on surf clam rival’s prospects in 2018

Halifax-based Clearwater Seafoods spoke for the first time Tuesday since losing a valuable arctic surf clam quota and raised doubts about whether a new Indigenous rival will be able to live up to its promise to harvest in 2018. The company suggested the licence for about 9,600 tonnes of the shellfish, worth an estimated $29 million, is on hold while the award is challenged in Federal Court. “Our understanding is with a judicial review process, the Department [of Fisheries and Oceans] would pause in issuing a licence until that process plays itself out,”,, >click to read<18:02

Clearwater Seafoods to pursue legal options after surf clam licence goes to First Nations group

Clearwater Seafoods says it will be pursuing legal options after its monopoly on Arctic surf clams came to an end Wednesday when a new licence for the species was issued to the Five Nations Clam Company. The company called the licence award a “failure in public policy and abuse of power by the Minister.”,,LeBlanc’s announcement that a new entrant was coming for Arctic surf clams was a controversial one in Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly in Grand Bank, where Mayor Rex Matthews was vocal in his opposition. >click to read< 11:16