e-3343 (Fisheries)
- Keywords
- Fisheries policy
- Frozen foods
- Spot prawn
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
- The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) mandate includes promoting the stability and economic viability of fishing operations;
- DFO has recently re-interpreted the existing fishery regulations to assert that a tub of frozen-at-sea spot prawn tails no longer meets their requirement that fish are ‘readily determined’ for inspection purposes;
- No clear reason has been provided for the re-interpretation, and no means for compliance for tubs of prawn frozen at sea has been provided;
- The practice of freezing-at-sea spot prawn tails in tubs has been ongoing for 50 years without incident or concern;
- Prawn size limits are a market issue, not a conservation issue, and there is no minimum prawn size regulations for recreational or for food, social and ceremonial (FSC) harvest;
- The commercial prawn fishery in British Columbia (BC) has been consistently recognized, both internally by DFO and externally by third party assessment, as a sustainable fishery;
- By preventing fishermen from the practice of freezing-at-sea prawn tails, which is the primary format for domestic sales, the DFO is effectively forcing the freezing vessels to create an export-only product;
- This sudden change will decrease the stability and economic viability of prawn fishing operations, fishing families, coastal economies and restaurants; and
- This reinterpretation will increase the export of BC prawns and weaken local food security.
- Open for signature
- April 20, 2021, at 12:28 p.m. (EDT)
- Closed for signature
- June 19, 2021, at 12:28 p.m. (EDT)
- Presented to the House of Commons
-
Rachel Blaney
(North Island—Powell River)
June 23, 2021 (Petition No. 432-01243)