And some believe the high prices mean the fishery will soon belong to the only entities capable of buying licenses: corporations.

The report said the federal government has purchased 66 licences for Nova Scotia native tribes since the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 1999 that Mi'kmaq have the right to a certain amount of the resource, as it is written in treaties.

Even more licenses are expected to be bought by the federal government, the report said, so DFO won't reveal how much a license currently costs.

"But