Spot Prawn Festival
When: May 31, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Where: Fisherman’s Wharf, False Creek
Tickets and info: chefstablesociety.com and eventbrite.com
The annual Spot Prawn Festival comes at a crucial time for the industry.
“The fishery is really struggling right now,” said Katie Lindsay, marketing manager for the Pacific Prawn Fisherman’s Association (PPFA).
In the last year, the price for spot prawns has plummeted by more than 30 per cent, mostly due to tariffs imposed by China. About 65 to 70 per cent of prawns go to China.
“We are struggling big-time, down a significant portion, and so the margins are just getting tighter and tighter for our fishery. Unfortunately, we weren’t included in that latest round of tariff negotiations — just lobster and crab. We were hopeful, but it didn’t include spot prawn or sea cucumber, any of those specialized shellfish delicacies that are so reliant on China.”
The PPFA partners with the Chefs’ Table Society of B.C. (CTS) to put on the festival. Now in its 20th year, the event heralds the start of BC’s spot prawn season with an outdoor party celebrating everything spot prawn.
Seafood chowder ($12 for 8 ounces and a bun) will be available, and cooking demos are scheduled between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The Spot Prawn Brunch features a tasting menu of six dishes for $85. There are two seatings, at 11:30 a.m. and another at 1:30 p.m.
Some participating chefs and restaurants include David Lee of the Vancouver Aquarium, Malindi Taylor and Alex Guido of Fanny Bay Oyster Bar, Ysmael Media and Catalino III Javier of Halina Modern Filipino Kitchen + Bar, and Kailash Chandra of Sula Indian restaurants.
On May 31, False Creek will be aswarm with spot prawns. This year’s Spot Prawn Festival comes amidst turmoil in the industry.
Chandra will be serving a dish based on South Indian Mangalorean cuisine, which is traditionally heavy on the coconut.
“The sweetness and delicacy of fresh spot prawns work beautifully with the brightness of raw mango and rich coconut prawn curry,” Chandra told Postmedia in an email. “Serving it with seeraga samba rice and house-fried sandige brings in further textures.” Seerega samba rice is a premium short grain rice. Sandige is a fried snack with a base of rice, wheat or sago.
“People can enjoy the ticketed brunch event or simply come down and watch the demo stage and buy fresh prawns from the fishers and go home and try their hand in preparing the B.C. delicacy,” said Shawna Gardham, executive director of CTS. “Great energy at the wharf!”
The spot prawn season itself is notoriously short.
“Last year, we had the shortest season ever on record — only 27 days,” Lindsay said. “Usually, it’s about 35 to 45 days.”
The length of the season is determined by the prawns themselves.
“When our samplers go on board the boats and they collect random samples of the traps and count the number of spawning female prawns, and it gets past a certain threshold, they’ll close down that area,” she said. “When too many areas along the coast are closed, then the fishery will close.”
The opening date, meanwhile, is determined through consultation between the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the PPFA, and other groups.
“We fish in the spring because it’s the farthest away from the wintertime, and the winter is when the most female prawns are spawning,” Lindsey said.
Spot prawns are harvested using baited traps. Commercial boats are allowed up to 300 traps per day, though catches vary significantly.
“There’s no exact quota per licence holder, so it’s very much based on the shotgun start,” Lindsey said. “There’s no guarantee on the number of prawns that you’re going to be able to harvest in any given day. It’s very much based on location, but more so just based on the skipper and the crew and their historical knowledge of areas, and also just their experience out on the water.”
The PPFA, which represents most of the province’s 247 spot prawn licence holders, will supply the festival with roughly 200-250 pounds of prawns.
Most fishers, however, won’t actually attend the festival.
“Oh, they don’t take any time off,” Lindsay said. “Usually just me and our executive director are able to attend. Everybody else is out fishing.”
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