CANADIAN DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS MAKES SALE OF FROZEN SPOT PRAWNS ILLEGAL THREATENING THE INDUSTRY AND LIVELIHOODS OF HUNDREDS OF FAMILIES
Please help us save the BC Spot Prawn Industry. Sign the petition to save our BC Spot Prawn Industry.
News Release from Skipper Otto’s:
A recent decision by the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is throwing into havoc British Columbia’s $45-million commercial prawn industry affecting the livelihoods of hundreds of families throughout the province. Without any consultation or notice and a few short months before the beginning of the spot prawn season, the DFO has made the sale of frozen-at-sea spot prawns illegal, effectively stopping the sale of all frozen spot-prawns to Canadian markets. Members of the industry are asking for public support in challenging the decision, supporting BC harvesters, and giving consumers the ability to continue the movement to access Canadian prawns and eat locally.
This ruling adds unsurmountable challenges to an already challenged industry. Thrown into chaos by the pandemic, the global export markets for spot-prawns all but disappeared overnight and the price paid to harvesters
in 2020 plummeted by over 50% from the previous year. Harvesters turned to and invested heavily in domestic
and direct-to-consumer sales of flash-frozen spot prawns to help save their seasons and cover off their enormous
debts. The stability of BC Spot Prawn domestic sales was a game-changer across the industry; however, even that is in peril now.
“The situation is extremely frustrating,” says James Lawson, harvester from Heiltsuk First Nation. “For us
multi-species fishermen, spot prawn harvest is by far our most premium product accounting for half of my
gross earnings last year. If the federal government prohibits me from freezing prawns, the reality is I will lose
my business. It makes no sense.”
Without access to the frozen BC spot prawn, it will be challenging for Canadians to purchase spot prawns this year.
“Canadians want access to Canadian food. If there’s one thing the pandemic has taught us, it’s that our dependence on imported products presents a threat to our food security. Our federal and provincial governments have been working hard to help support small-scale food producers, especially during these uncertain times. Taking away harvesters’ ability to sell prawns to Canadian consumers undermines all the progress we’ve made toward robust, secure and healthy local food systems,” notes Sonia Strobel, CEO of Skipper Otto Community Supported Fishery who works with three BC harvesters to supply prawns for their members.
“For the past two decades, chefs have passionately had the backs of harvesters and consumers to successfully build the domestic BC spot prawn industry and advocate for supporting our local food friends and partners,”
remarks Ned Bell, chef/partner at the and founder of Chefs for Oceans. “Pulling the rug out on
harvesters will be leaving holes on the menus of restaurants throughout the country. For everyone’s sake
– chefs, restaurants, consumers, harvesters, communities and our environment, we sincerely hope that this
BC Spot Prawn decision will be reconsidered.”
Members of the industry including Skipper Otto Community Supported Fishery are asking for the public’s support by sending a letter to their local MP.
More Information
• In 2018, harvesters brought in 1.6 million kilograms of BC spot prawns
• Wild BC Spot Prawns come from a sustainable fishery. The fishery is recognized by the David Suzuki Foundation/Seachoice program as a BEST CHOICE, the Vancouver Aquarium Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean
Wise program as GREEN and the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch as a BEST CHOICE.
• 205 vessels harvest off the coast of BC with the season generally opening in May and closing in mid to
late June
• The spot prawn industry started in BC in 1914 and has consistently proven to be a well-managed, sustainable industry
• DFO’s objection to freezing spot prawns is in reference to a reinterpretation of the regulation requiring all
harvested products be “readily available” for measurement. Spot prawns are routinely inspected by enforcement while live on sorting tables before being frozen. A tub of spot prawns can be defrosted in under
5 minutes if further inspection is requested.
Media contact: Sonia Strobel, CEO, Skipper Otto Community Supported Fishery Ph: (778) 689-1319 Email: sonia@skipperotto.ca
Ned Bell, founder/partner, Naramata Inn Ph: (604) 240-5840 Email: ned@naramatainn.com
James Lawson (Heiltsuk harvester) Ph: (778) 678-2922 Email: james04_04@hotmail.com
Interview opportunities: Guy Johnston (BC harvester) mrfishing@telus.net
Melissa Collier (BC harvester) wildscallops@gmail.com
