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As Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, I wanted to set the record straight about DFO's responsibility as it pertains to the decision by Clearwater to reduce its plant operations in both North Sydney and in Grand Bank. I sympathize with the people who are affected by this business decision and regret that families in these communities will be negatively impacted.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada does not have the authority to direct private companies where to land product, or interfere with the processing decisions taken by companies. Clearwater’s obligations on where to land or process its catch represent business decisions that are within the exclusive purview of the company.
Clearwater has, over the past 15 years, acquired the four offshore Canadian clam licences authorized for this fishery. Other companies had previously been issued licences with equal quota share, but all chose to sell to Clearwater over time. I would point out that, for all commercial fisheries, any eligible fisher/company has the right to apply for a licence. These requests are assessed on a variety of factors, taking conservation of the resource into consideration.
This is an expensive fishery to enter and in which to be successful. To date, only large integrated companies have been able to afford the investments and even then, markets appear to be quite limited and competitive.
I appreciate the concern expressed about this issue and recognize the importance to the local economy that these kinds of decisions have.
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Sophie Galarneau
Media Relations
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Ottawa
(613) 990-7537 |
Sujata Raisinghani
Press Secretary, Office of the Minister
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Ottawa
(613) 992-3474 |
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