Clearwater Seafoods Inc. has unveiled plans to invest more than $5 million in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, and Grand Bank, Newfoundland, to increase Arctic surf clam processing capacity and spur continued sustainable growth of the fishery.
“This is good news for local jobs, domestic seafood processing capacity and those looking for the very finest wild-caught surf clams from Atlantic Canada,” said CEO Ian Smith. “We will continue to expand the export market for Canadian seafood and build on its global leadership in sustainable seafood excellence.”
The investments will enable Clearwater to better serve customers in Japan, China and South Korea, where Arctic surf clams are popular as sushi components known as hokkigai or bei gei bei. It will also facilitate expansion into other markets – especially in Europe, where sushi consumption is growing rapidly.
The expansion program includes a capital outlay of $2 million to establish clam processing capacity at Clearwater’s Highland Fisheries facility in Glace Bay. The plan is to turn a seasonal crab plant in Cape Breton into a year-round seafood processing operation providing full-time jobs for 36 people. There will also be opportunities for additional seasonal employment during the peak crab production season.
An additional investment of $3.6 million will be made in Clearwater’s existing Grand Bank, Newfoundland facility to increase grading and processing, improve infrastructure and expand production of value-added product formats. This plant will continue to be the company’s main clam processing operation, with the Highland facility supporting additional grading and packaging requirements.
“These investments are the latest step in our strategy to build the world’s most extraordinary, wild seafood company, proudly pioneered from Atlantic Canada,” said CEO Smith.
In 2015 Clearwater welcomed to its fleet the Belle Carnell, a $65 million state-of-the-art vessel said to be the most technologically advanced shellfish harvester in the world, to meet global demand for Arctic surf clams. It also recently announced an additional $70 million investment to replace an aging clam harvesting vessel with another new factory ship that will deliver additional productivity and efficiency gains to the clam fleet.
Ranked as one of North America’s largest vertically integrated seafood companies, Bedford, Nova Scotia-headquartered Clearwater is the largest holder of shellfish licenses and quotas in Canada. It produces and sells a wide line of eco-certified fishery products ranging from scallops, lobster, clams and coldwater shrimp to langoustines, crab, whelk and groundfish.
Clearwater developed the Arctic surf clam fishery in the mid-1980’s, purchasing all three licenses over the history of the fishery. The company pioneered product and market development for this species by investing over $200 million in vessels, licenses, plants and market development over the years. Today, its surf clam operations contribute over $70 million annually to the Atlantic Canada economy, including payroll and purchases of goods and services, and year-round employment for more than 400 people.
