• The Organic Ocean boat with sustainable seafood chefs Ned Bell of Yew at the Four Seasons and Robert Clark of the Fish Counter on board.

  • Around 2,000 spot prawn enthusiasts patiently waited for the first catch of the season this past weekend.

  • Ready for boil. Chefs Table Society of B.C. president Scott Jaeger shows off the morning catch. Spot prawns start life as males and in their last year, turn into females to lay between 2,000 and 4,000 eggs.

  • The festival’s feature event was the Spot Prawn Boil, where guests enjoyed a plate of fresh B.C. spot prawns.

  • Bring cash and get to the dock early to catch the Organic Ocean and her fresh catch of live West Coast spot prawns.

  • The Organic Ocean boat will dock at False Creek Fisherman’s Wharf between noon and 2:00 p.m. for the remainder of the spot prawn season.

  • During the Spot Prawn Festival this past weekend, Chefs’ Table Society member Darren Brown, executive chef at Oru and the Fairmont Pacific Rim, demonstrated how to cook spot prawns at home.

  • Spot Prawn Festival attendees enjoyed the spot prawn boil at False Creeks Fishermen’s Wharf.

  • The city skyline provided a beautiful backdrop to enjoy these fine crustaceans.

Spot Prawn Season

First catch.

For the next six weeks, B.C. spot prawns take centre stage on the menus of many of the city’s top restaurants. The first fresh prawns arrived at False Creek Fishermen’s Wharf this past Saturday with much fanfare, as chefs and spot prawn enthusiasts patiently waited to get their hands on the live, locally-sourced crustaceans.

The Spot Prawn Festival celebrates its eighth year of sustainability. While most of the West Coast’s spot prawns are exported to countries like China and Japan, the Chefs’ Table Society of B.C., host of the annual springtime festival, is trying to spread the word to consumers that local spot prawns are a great source of protein and an excellent and delicious alternative to farmed tiger prawns.

Photos by Joshua McVeity.

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Post Date:

May 13, 2014

Updated:

May 14, 2015