NO DECISION ON NEW SURF CLAM LICENCE HOLDER

Ottawa announced a year ago that it would choose a new licence holder for 25 per cent of the Arctic surf clam quota in the spring of 2019, to begin harvesting clams in January 2020. That has not happened, and the office of Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson now says there is no timeline on the process. It seems unlikely any such process could take place before the October election.

The Arctic surf clam fishery became a source of controversy last year after former fisheries minister Dominic LeBlanc announced he was awarding one quarter of the existing quota to a group of First Nations from all four Atlantic provinces and Quebec. The move was meant to give Indigenous communities a foothold in the lucrative fishery, and to end Clearwater’s longstanding monopoly.

It was later revealed that the Liberals had connections to the winning bidder, including a cousin of LeBlanc’s wife who was involved with Five Nations. Ultimately, the federal ethics commissioner found that LeBlanc broke conflict-of-interest rules when he awarded the licence, because of the family connection. The licence was cancelled in July 2018, with no reason given; LeBlanc was removed from fisheries to become minister of intergovernmental affairs.