Commercial fisheries licensing rules and policies reference document Pacific region
Clam
Categories Z2 and Z2ACL
A commercial Clam licence (category Z2) or Aboriginal commercial Clam licence (category Z2ACL) and a Fisher Registration Card are required to commercially harvest Clam by hand picking or hand digging. Clam licence eligibilities are limited entry and party based. A party may hold only one Clam licence eligibility.
Five species of inter-tidal Clams are harvested in the Pacific Region: manila, native littleneck, butter, razor, and varnish. Harvesting is done by hand picking or hand digging in intertidal areas during opportunistic tides. Licence eligibility holders are required to wear a high-visibility vest while engaged in Clam harvesting.
A Clam licence is also required to harvest Clams on Oyster tenures.
Licence category background
Commercial Clam fishing began just before the turn of the century. Landings of individual species were not recorded until 1951.
Up to the mid-1970s, butter Clams dominated inter-tidal Clam landings. A change in market demands led steamer Clams (manila and littleneck) to dominate landings since 1981. There was a rapid escalation of the Clam fishery during the 1980s with coast-wide landings of all species reaching a peak of 4,360 tonnes in 1988. Landings then declined due to the removal of accumulated stock on most beaches. In 1998, landings of all species totalled 1,393 tonnes of which 1,115 tonnes were manila Clams.
Area licensing was introduced in 1989 to control fishing efforts by requiring Clam harvesters to annually select one of seven licence areas in which to harvest Clam. Despite this control measure, the number of commercial Clam harvesters remained high (approximately 1,900 annually) and increasingly restrictive management procedures were needed. As a result, some licence areas were open for only one or two days each season and the openings between licence areas were staggered to avoid harvest gluts and to maintain a year-round supply of fresh Clams to the market.
On April 22, 1997, the Minister announced licence eligibility limitations effective January 1, 1998. To be eligible for commercial access in Areas B, D, E, F, and G, applicants must have held a licence in five of the six years from 1989 to 1994. The Pacific Region Licence Appeal Board (PRLAB) also heard appeals from applicants who held a licence in at least three of the six years. To be eligible for an Area C licence, applicants must have held a licence in two of three years from 1991 to 1993. The Area A Clam fishery was directed at the razor Clam and licence limitation rules required holding a licence eligibility in three of four years from 1990 to 1994.
Licence limitations resulted in the establishment of approximately 1,165 licence eligibilities.
Aboriginal commercial Clam (category Z2ACL) licence eligibilities were introduced after consultation and negotiations with Aboriginal groups who requested access to the commercial Clam fishery in all areas consistent with traditional barter and trade. The number of Aboriginal commercial Clam licence eligibilities was negotiated to achieve a coast-wide approximate split of 50 per cent category Z2 and 50 per cent category Z2ACL. This split is based on the original number of commercial Clam licence eligibility holders established in 1998.
In 2003, negotiations with Quatsino First Nation resulted in the allocation of an additional fifteen Z2ACL licence eligibilities, effective for the 2004 fishing season, and the inception of a new area identified as F27. These licence eligibilities are eligible to harvest Clams in statistical area 27 (Koprino Harbour and portion of Klaskino Inlet).
Fishing areas
| Area | Locations | |
|---|---|---|
| A | North Coast | Subarea 1-15 and that portion of Subarea 102-1 inside a line drawn from Rose Point south to Fife Point |
| B | Johnstone Strait | Area 13 and all intertidal zones surrounding Cortes Island and Twin Islands in Subareas 15-3 and 15-5 |
| C | Sunshine Coast | Areas 15 (excluding intertidal zones surrounding Cortes Island and Twin Islands), Area 16 (excluding Subareas 16-9 and 16-20), Area 28 and Subarea 29-1 |
| D | Upper Strait of Georgia | Area 14 and Subareas 16-19 and 16-20 |
| E | Lower Strait of Georgia | Areas 17, 18, 19, 20 and Subareas 29-4 and 29-5 |
| F | West Coast of Vancouver Island | Areas 23 to 27 |
| F27 | West Coast of Vancouver Island | Area 27 |
| G | Queen Charlotte Sound | Areas 11 and 12 |
Licence renewal fee
The annual renewal fee for a clam licence is $30.00.
The Fisher Registration Card (FRC) renewal fee is $60.00.
Licence issuance
A commercial Clam licence must be renewed, and the renewal fee paid, every year by December 31st to retain the privilege to be issued the licence in the future. This means that licence eligibility holders must renew the licence whether they intend to fish or not. If the licence is not annually renewed by December 31st, the licence will cease and DFO will be unable to consider a request to issue that licence in the future.
Licence documents
Clam licence documents, a current Fisher Registration Card, and government issued photo identification must be carried at all times by the licence eligibility holder when harvesting Clams and produced upon demand of a fishery officer or guardian.
Licence eligibility holders may reprint any lost or destroyed licence documents using the National Online Licensing System (NOLS).
Nomination
There is currently no nomination process in place for commercial Clam licence eligibilities to be nominated from one licence eligibility holder to another.
Estate administrators may request that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans grant a nomination exception for Clam licence eligibilities held in the name of estates, by presenting an appeal to the Pacific Region Licence Appeal Board (PRLAB).
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