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Discussions with Fisheries and Oceans Canada are continuing on a date, Mike Atkins, executive director of the Pacific Prawn Fishermen’s Association, said Monday. There is discussion about moving the opening to May 26, partly because COVID-19 restrictions will limit the market for prawns, Atkins said. Indoor dining at restaurants is banned until May 25 although patio dining and takeout are permitted. “There are concerns about starting the fishery and having no fresh market and no domestic market,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that go into the opening date. Every fisherman’s got different reasons and there’s different concerns so that’s up to DFO to sort that one out.” ....
“We saw a real expansion of local sales of both live and frozen prawn tails that effectively saved many harvesters in terms of their (financial) viability last year,” said Emily Orr, lead representative for the Prawn Industry Caucus. The industry has spent years working with the provincial Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Fisheries to bolster local sales, but the effort really took off last year. “For DFO to turn around and say, ‘No, you cannot freeze prawn tails’ … it’s a real disservice to all the work that’s been done but much bigger than that is the damage to people’s profitability,” she said. ....
Hundreds of B.C. spot prawn harvesters might soon be out of a job thanks to a recent decision by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) that makes selling spot prawns frozen at sea illegal. Freezing prawns in tubs of salt water is a long-standing practice in the province’s $45-million spot prawn fishery and is vital to local sales. It has recently taken on even more importance since the pandemic started, as many harvesters most of them working from small boats aim to sell more of their catch locally after international markets crashed last year. “We saw a real expansion of local sales of both live and frozen prawn tails that effectively saved many harvesters in terms of their (financial) viability last year,” said Emily Orr, lead representative for the Prawn Industry Caucus. The industry has spent years working with the provincial Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Fisheries to bolster local sales, but the effort really took off last year. ....
B.C. prawn fishers furious over DFO 'tubbing' ban vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.