Cowichan-Malahat-Langford MP Alistair MacGregor has sent a letter to MP Ken McDonald, chair of the standing committee on fisheries and oceans, asking for an emergency review of changes to regulations regarding frozen spot prawns.
Upon learning Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has changed a regulation to make the sale of spot prawns frozen at sea illegal, Vancouver Island NDP MPs Gord Johns, Rachel Blaney and MacGregor met with the B.C. prawn industry caucus to discuss the devastating impacts the new regulations would have on west coast prawn fishers.
“At a time when BC residents are looking to support local food producers by enjoying the seafood caught right off our shores, the federal government is actively making that more difficult,” noted MacGregor. “I look forward to my letter being addressed with the urgency it demands at upcoming committee hearings.”
The amended DFO regulations, aimed at conservation, come after decades of prawn fishing without any significant violations of catch guidelines. MP MacGregor’s efforts are widely supported among local prawn fishers, including small scale Indigenous harvesters.
A copy of MacGregor’s letter to the standing committee can be viewed on the MP’s Facebook page.