As you may or may not know, our province, British Columbia is by the coastline. We are lucky to have fresh seafood year round. Hence, every May of each year, just at the beginning of summer, is Spot Prawn season. This past Sunday just happens to be our annual Spot Prawn Festival at Granville Island’s Fisherman’s Wharf. A couple concerns actually surfaced in my mind as I prepared to visit the always bustling Granville Island.

Spot Prawn Festival Concerns

First of all, I was very curious to learn about how sustainable was the practices of Prawn fishing. I learned about the overfishing of certain sea creatures around the world in the past. So, I was very happy to see a booth talking about some of the sustainable practices of Spot Prawns fishing. To begin, the booth had a game that taught us about which size and types of the Prawn were legal to keep and set free. For example, you must set free the Prawns with roe (eggs) and were too small.

Secondly, I was thinking about all the waste that was going to pile up at festivals. (I even brought my reusable shopping bag and snack bags along.) Prawn and seafood chowder with a fresh bun came with the purchase of a pre-bought online ticket. After I finished my bowl of chowder, I was looking for the correct disposal bins. Normally, at the other festivals that I participated in, there would be a recycling bin, a compost bin and then, a trash bin. I was expecting to separate my leftovers. Oddly enough, there were only two compost bins. Therefore, I quickly asked one of the workers there for guidance. She told me that the bowl and even the spoon was compostable as they were made of corn! My jaw dropped. Really? I surely hoped so and my container joined the rest of them. I also noticed that no one was selling bottled water! That was wonderful!

In conclusion, I learned a lot about this sea creature. For example, did you know that they were born all male and then, turn into females in their adulthood? How fascinating!