Outrage in Newfoundland as Indigenous groups get cut of Arctic surf clam fishery – CBC

Grand Bank Mayor said decision shows Dominic LeBlanc places little value in rural Newfoundland jobs

Feb 23, 2018

Federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s decision to cleave off 25 per cent of the lucrative Arctic surf clam fishery and give it to a newly formed consortium of Indigenous groups has blindsided those who have depended on the industry on Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula for decades.

“This is an unprecedented move,” Grand Bank Mayor Rex Matthews told CBC Radio’s The Broadcast. “To come in and expropriate 25 per cent of a quota that we’ve had for the last 27 years.”

In what the federal government calls a step toward reconciliation, a quarter of the quota is being moved from Grand Bank – where Clearwater Seafoods has a monopoly on Arctic surf clams – and is being given to the new Five Nations Premium Clam Co., which is comprised of First Nations from the five easternmost provinces.

Read More: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/arctic-surf-clams-grand-bank-1.4548425