Tag Archives: Pacific Prawn Fishermen’s Association
B.C. fishers celebrate DFO announcement allowing spot prawn ‘tubbing’ to continue
The announcement Monday by Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray is an about face from an announcement less than a year ago when DFO served notice it was making tubbing illegal. “This is huge,” said Mike Atkins, executive director of the Pacific Prawn Fishermen’s Association. For decades, the celebrated B.C. fishery has relied on small boat fishers freezing just-caught spot prawns in tubs to preserve them for transport to local markets. Instead of outlawing the practice, the new 2023 regulations will limit the packaged volume of tubbed prawns to 710 millilitres or less. It will also require that all packaging material be transparent. >click to read< 08:26
DFO: ‘tubbing’ can continue for the commercial prawn fishery 2021 season
“Our goal is, and always has been, to see our Pacific prawn fishery continue to thrive. Working in partnership with the Pacific Prawn Fishermen’s Association, we have agreed on a process that will allow harvesters to freeze their catch at sea this season, just as they’ve done for years. Size limits remain a critical part of a sustainable prawn fishery, and we will work with industry to develop viable, alternative practices for the long-term. But with the season fast approaching, it’s important that British Columbians understand they can, and should, continue to purchase delicious, frozen Pacific prawns.” >click to read< 07:35
B.C. crab and prawn fishermen dispute Port of Vancouver no-go zones – will force them from where they’ve long fished
Crab fisherman Stewart McDonald is steaming mad that he may soon be prevented by the Port of Vancouver from dropping crab traps around Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet, where he’s fished for more than two decades.,, On Friday, the Port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest port, confirmed it has made changes to its information guide, which provides rules for where vessels — like McDonald’s fishing boat — can travel. A port spokesman said the changes were needed because the waters were getting crowded with recreational boaters. click here to read the story 12:26
DFO’s plea to fishermen: Avoid nine reefs in Strait of Georgia
The federal fisheries department is asking commercial fishermen to voluntarily avoid nine reefs in the Strait of Georgia while talks are underway to make the fishing closures official and help ensure protection of fragile glass sponges — possibly the “longest living animals” in the world. Read more here timescolonist 23:27
Lessons Learned: Commercial prawn-fleet accidents prompt new best-practices recommendations – Fishing Vessel Stability
Vancouver Sun – The dramatic loss of two commercial prawn vessels last season has prompted the fishery — now in full swing on the B.C. coast — to adopt a set of best practices aimed at ensuring hundreds of traps per vessel are transported safely. The industry’s new best-practices document — in place for the current spot-prawn season — recommends, in part, that gear be stored low to maintain stability, that traps be stacked evenly and protected against shifting, and that crews realize that winds across a loaded deck can affect stability, as can low fuel levels. continued
