OTTAWA—A company made up of First Nations members from Quebec and Atlantic Canada — and led by the brother of a Liberal MP — has won a new licence for Arctic surf clam, ending a longtime monopoly on the multimillion-dollar industry held by fisheries giant Clearwater Seafoods Inc. Granting the lucrative offshore licence to Five Nations Premium Clam Co. will boost Indigenous participation in the industry and spread economic and social benefits across eastern Canada, said Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc. “This is a powerful step toward reconciliation,” LeBlanc said. “The inclusion of participants from each Atlantic province and Quebec will allow the benefits of this lucrative fishery to flow to a broad group of First Nations, and will help create good, middle-class jobs for Indigenous peoples in each Atlantic province and Quebec.”Last year, the government announced it would add a fourth licence comprising 25 per cent of the total allowable catch of Arctic surf clam, and that the successful applicant would be an Indigenous entity and majority Canadian-owned.

Source: thestar February 22, 2018 15:00 UTC