According to the press release this is an independent, third-party assessment in the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) certification program for sustainable and well managed fisheries. With this assessment this fishery joins the growing number of Canadian fisheries seeking MSC certification and already certified including Clearwater’s offshore lobster fishery and the offshore scallop fishery in which it participates.
The history of this fisher is that it occurs on Banquereau Bank, which is a component of the Scotian Shelf in the Atlantic Ocean located east of Nova Scotia, and on Grand Bank, which is one of a series of banks collectively referred to as the Grand Banks, lying south east of Newfoundland. The Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has managed an Arctic surf clam fishery on Banquereau since 1986 and Clearwater is now the only licensed operator in the limited entry fishery.
Catches of Arctic surf clams average about 24,000 mt annually for Banquereau and Grand Bank combined, with the predominant share of harvests currently coming from Banquereau. Arctic surf clams are shucked and individually quick frozen at sea. The prime grade meat may be sold into the U.S. or shipped to Japan and China for sale.
Ian Smith, CEO of Clearwater Seafoods, said that the future of Clearwater has always been committed to sustainable fishing and we believe our Arctic surf clam fishery will measure up well against the MSC’s gold standard for global fisheries. Kerry Coughlin, America’s regional director for the MSC expressed that the organization welcome the Arctic surf clam fishery into assessment against MSC standard. The MSC program is designed to recognize and reward sustainable fishing practices.
