DFO Backtracks on Rule That Harvesters Warned Would Destroy the Local Spot Prawn Industry

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has temporarily pulled back on a change of regulation that small scale harvesters had warned would destroy the local spot prawn industry.

Earlier this month, the conservation and protection arm of DFO announced it was changing how it interprets a regulation that would make frozen-at-sea tubs of spot prawns illegal effective immediately.

For decades, the celebrated B.C. spot prawn harvest has relied on fishermen who freeze just-caught spot prawns in tubs of salt water — a practice called “tubbing” — to preserve them for transport to local markets.

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