2025-2027 intertidal clam joint management plan summary, DFO and the Heiltsuk Tribal Council

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The purpose of this Joint Fisheries Management Plan (JMP) summary is to provide a brief overview of the information found in the full JMP. This document also serves to communicate the basic information on the fishery and its management to DFO staff, legislated co-management boards, and other stakeholders. This JMP provides a common understanding of the basic “rules” for the sustainable management of the fisheries resource. The full JMP is available upon request.

This JMP summary is not a legally binding instrument which can form the basis of a legal challenge. The JMP can be modified at any time and does not fetter the Minister’s discretionary powers set out in the Fisheries Act. The Minister can, for reasons of conservation or for any other valid reason, modify any provision of the JMP in accordance with the powers granted pursuant to the Fisheries Act.

When DFO is responsible for implementing obligations under land claims agreements, the JMP will be implemented in a manner consistent with these obligations. In the event that a JMP is inconsistent with obligations under land claims agreements, the provisions of the land claims agreements will prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.

General overview/introduction

The Heiltsuk Tribal Council first requested that a manila clam fishery be considered in their territorial area in 1988, and a proposal for conducting biotoxin monitoring and water quality assessments to classify growing water areas was subsequently developed by the Heiltsuk Tribal Council. In 1993, an agreement was reached between Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the Heiltsuk Tribal Council that established a three-year pilot fishery under a joint management plan. At that time, the clam agreement was a sub-agreement to the Heiltsuk’s main DFO Agreement under the Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy (AFS Program). The clam agreement laid out the licensing, harvest allocation, size and quota restrictions, area restrictions, enforcement, and monitoring protocols and catch validation requirements for the fishery. The agreement limited the number of participants to 75 with 50 designated for Manila harvesting only and 25 for littleneck harvesting. This pilot fishery ran for six years before becoming a permanent fishery managed under a yearly Heiltsuk/DFO Joint Management Plan. The fishery primarily occurs at locations within Pacific Fishery Management Area 7.

Heiltsuk food, social, and ceremonial (FSC) bivalve harvest is open through October to the end of March depending on biotoxin monitoring results. FSC harvesting of bivalves within Heiltsuk traditional territory is limited to Heiltsuk citizens and designated individuals only.

Recreational harvest opportunities are provided in Gunboat Pass, and openings are announced by DFO through the fisheries notice system and on the SHELLI mapping tool. Harvesters are required to hold a valid British Columbia Tidal Waters Sport Fishing Licence to harvest. All guidelines for harvest area, size limit, and possession limits are posted online.

The Heiltsuk commercial clam fishery is managed using a total allowable catch (TAC) and minimum size limits for each species. The initial TAC was based on surveys undertaken in these areas in 1990 and 1992 (Bourne and Cawdell, 1992, Bourne et al. 1994) and was set to ensure sustainable harvests due to concerns regarding recruitment and distribution of Manila clams in the North Coast areas.

Science and stock assessment

The stock assessment program for the commercial manila clam fishery has been developed jointly by the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department (HIRMD)-Aquatics Division and DFO Stock Assessment Division. The program requires assessment surveys of index beaches in the main Subareas fished. Survey protocols and reporting requirements are outlined in “A Manual for Intertidal Clam Surveys” (Gillespie and Kronlund 1999). The purpose of these surveys is to monitor stock abundance and population characteristics, primarily age structure, growth, and recruitment. Survey analyses and reports will be completed by HIRMD and submitted to DFO for review and consideration in the development of the next season’s management plan.

A working paper, which reviewed the Area 7 manila clam fishery was presented and accepted during the June 2001 PSARC Shellfish Sub-committee meeting (Gillespie et al. 2001). The working paper recommended that index beaches be established in all areas in which harvesting takes place and that harvest threshold levels, based on biomass estimates from the index beaches, be set for each Subarea to minimize the risk of local stock depletions.

In order to manage the fishery under a TAC, a dockside validation program for the Heiltsuk clam fishery was started for the 2000/2001 fishery and continues to be a requirement for the management program. This program requires that all clams harvested must be weighed and validated by a DFO certified observer with a certified scale.

Landings have been reported for each year of a Heiltsuk commercial clam fishery since it started in 1993.

Economics

Landings from the commercial fishery have been reported for each year since 1993 in which there was a fishery. Annual landings have varied from a low of 25.4 tonnes in 1997/98 to a high of 114.1 tonnes in 1994/95 and annual landed values have varied between $111,000 (1997/98) and $385,000 (2001/2002).

Shared stewardship arrangements

The Heiltsuk Commercial clam fishery is managed jointly by HIRMD and DFO. HIRMD conduct beach surveys for stock assessment and support a biotoxin monitoring program on an annual basis. HIRMD provides catch and effort data to DFO on behalf of all participants, and monitor catch and effort each month in collaboration with DFO.

Environment and Climate Change Canada conducts water quality surveys to assess the sanitary conditions in shellfish growing waters.

Governance process

All aspects of the fishery, including pre-season planning, quota and threshold establishment, and post-season review, are discussed at annual Joint Technical Committee meetings. The Committee is comprised of DFO representatives and Heiltsuk Tribal Council representatives, as set out in the Heiltsuk Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy Agreement.

Management issues, objectives and measures

#	Management issue	Objectives	Management measure
1	Overages of total allowable catch (TAC) by Subarea	Ensure harvest remains within the TAC per Subarea to support conservation and sustainability objectives	Limit open areas to increase enforcement efficiency and improve catch information
2	Commercial harvest in closed areas	Provide uncontaminated product to commercial markets. Support DFO and HIRMD staff with enforcement and catch recording.	Strengthened Heiltsuk internal clam policy, and opening no more than two Subareas at a time.
3	Variable recruitment rates for butter clams in the North and Central Coasts. Limited information available for recruitment rates and response to harvest in this area.	Meet conservation and sustainability objectives for harvested species.	Caution exercised if determining commercial harvest rates and TAC, and consideration of the Heiltsuk First Nation’s Traditional Ecological Knowledge study findings. Exploration of a framework should there be interest in future harvest.

Compliance plan

DFO has the responsibility to enforce the Fisheries Act and associated regulations, to address conservation, health and safety issues and to maintain proper management and control of the various fisheries.

Performance review

All aspects of this fishery, including pre-season planning, quota and threshold establishment, and post-season reviews are discussed jointly between HIRMD and DFO.

Contact us

For additional information on this JMP summary or to request an electronic version of the full plan, please contact PAC Invertebrates / Invertebres PAC (DFO/MPO) at DFO.PACInvertebrates-InvertebresPAC.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Date modified:: 2026-02-16

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