Scallop harvesters are blocking access to a Clearwater Seafoods plant in Grand Bank, Newfoundland Canada, and are asking for answers regarding access to fishing grounds, reports the Southern Gazette.
The harvesters believe they should be able to once again fish in the southern and middle scallop beds on St. Pierre Bank, in Newfoundland and Labrador.
We had a license to fish anywhere on St. Pierre Bank for 25, 30 years. Overnight that was [taken] from us in 2006 and give to Clearwater and the offshore boats the companies, Wayne Meade, one of the organizers of the protest, said.
Meade alleged that inshore fishermen were then limited to the northwest part of the bank, which had already been largely raked clean by factory trawlers.