On Tuesday, reaction differed sharply between Indigenous leaders and inshore, non-Indigenous fishing groups.
Membertou First Nation Chief
"Acquiring Clearwater will have lasting positive impacts on the economics of our Mi’kmaq communities," he said in an interview. "This is a generational acquisition that would be felt across our communities for the next seven generations."
Paul said the long-term plan is to integrate Mi'kmaq workers into the seafood company.
He said through attrition and retirement of existing workers, Clearwater could expand its Indigenous workforce.
Yet the deal immediately raised questions about the potential effect on the region's "moderate livelihood" fishery.
Tensions over the treaty rights-based fishery boiled over earlier this fall after the Sipekne’katik First Nation opened a self-regulated fishery in
There has been violent opposition to the treaty rights-based fishery, including boat burnings, the destruction of a lobster pound and an alleged assault against an Indigenous chief.
"It makes it a whole lot more difficult to find our way through this," said Williams, author of the book "A Future of the Fishery: Crisis and Renewal in
The chief of Membertou First Nation said the Clearwater purchase is "strictly a commercial transaction" that won't impact efforts to establish a moderate livelihood fishery.
"Our investment in the commercial offshore fishery is completely separate from our commercial inshore and moderate livelihood fisheries," Paul said.
"We are still incredibly committed to our other fisheries … this deal does not impact the processes and discussions taking place in the livelihood fishery."
However, for some, the Clearwater deal also raises the spectre of increasing fisheries privatization.
Williams said the seafood company has a history of conflict with owners of smaller, family-owned fishing enterprises. While the company has pushed for a more corporate fisheries model, inshore fishing groups have urged
"Many smaller boat owners see Clearwater as a group trying to get access to their owner-operator fishery," he said.
"Now that Clearwater is perceived to be a First Nations-owned company, that adds to the mistrust about the expansion of Indigenous fisheries. It will add to fears that a large company can buy up lobster licences through First Nations that they weren't able to buy as a company."
A spokesman for one of the small-boat fisheries off southwest
"Those resources never should have been privatized and corporatized by Clearwater in the first place," said
Sproul said last summer his organization approached the Mi'kmaq Rights Initiative negotiating office, which conducts talks on behalf of Mi'kmaq communities, to urge it to form a partnership with non-Indigenous, inshore harvesters to pressure
He said the proposal would have allowed the smaller non-Indigenous fishers to move into the offshore and opened up the closer-to-shore areas to at least 70 inshore Indigenous boats.
Instead, Sproul said the agreement will be seen as a side deal that benefits relatively few and damages non-Indigenous fishing communities and fishing families.
The Clearwater deal comes eight months after the
The Mi'kmaq First Nations coalition, led by the Membertou First Nation, and Premium holdings will each acquire half ownership of Clearwater through the new partnership
The Mi'kmaw coalition will invest
The
The transaction has received unanimous approval of Clearwater's board and is subject to approval by Clearwater shareholders in January. The sale is expected to close in the first half of 2021.
The Mi'kmaq expect to hold Clearwater's Canadian fishing licences within a fully Mi'kmaq-owned partnership. Paqtnkek,
Clearwater is a vertically integrated seafood company, with fishing operations, processing facilities and a sales and marketing team.
The company fishes a variety of seafood, including scallops, lobster, clams and crab in
Clearwater has about 2,000 employees globally, with 1,500 based in
This report by
Companies in this story: (TSX:CLR, TSX:PBH)
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