19 Mar 04 2004 Season Opening As of this a.m. Jim Morrison - DFO has confirmed that the prawn plan is on track for sign off and for a May 1 opening.

2 Mar 04 Commercial prawn fishing by trap is again a permitted form of fishing in Rockfish Conservation Areas in 2004. This update from the DFO site

9 Jan 04 Two Consultation Workshops: Species At Risk Act (SARA) and Rockfish/Lingcod Sustainability. Details and times are here in the forum. Please note that an additional rockfish meeting has been scheduled for Sechelt...Wednesday, February 4 at the Driftwood Inn...1-4 pm This will precede the SARA meeting. Thankyou Jay Hartling. Registration deadline is 22 Jan 04

21 Nov 03 North Island Prawn Association met in Campbell River this week. Discussion centered on: Electronic Monitoring Rockfish Proposal Future Management Read the full minutes of the meeting. Thanks to Tom and Kelly for this report. Prawnvoice encourages all other groups and associations to submit a summary of their meetings. Sectoral and PPFA meetings would also be welcomed by all prawn fishermen...hint...hint...hint

23 Sept 03    10:30 - 16:30 Prawn Sectoral Committee Meeting 2nd Floor Meeting Room, Pacific Biological Station 3190 Hammond Bay Road, Nanaimo Draft Agenda: Prawn Sectoral Committee Introductions Roundtable Review Of The 2003 Commercial Fishing Season Comments From First Nation Communities Comments From Recreational Fishing Community Commercial Rep. Election Results Rockfish Conservation Areas - Update Rockfish Bycatch Results 2003 Draft Agenda: Research Committee Fall/Winter Index Surveys Rockfish - Trap Modifications & Testing Recommendations For Additional Agenda Topics May Be Sent To Jim Morrison 756-7233.

19 Aug 03 Rockfish Conservation Areas As many license holders as possible should write in or visit the RCA site. The reality of the situation is: that rockfish bycatch is extremely small (less than 1% encounter rate) that the economic impact would be enormous if the prawn fishery is not allowed to continue in those areas that DFO should consider modest gear modifications and testing before closing any areas to prawn fishing that evidence in other parts of the world (as shown by the MSC and others) has found trap fishing for prawns to be sustainable and highly selective with minimal impact on the ecosystem The more letters that DFO receives along these lines the better heard we will be.

11 Aug 03 Rockfish letter Many license holders did not receive the following  letter from DFO.

07 Aug 03 Rockfish Conservation Areas RCA's are prosposed mainly for the Strait of Georgia and will exclude commercial and rec prawn fishing. Visit the RCA site, check the maps and voice your concern. It would be a good idea to send copies to your PPFA rep, Sectoral rep and post them in the forum here.

07 Aug 03 As of April 2003 the Prawn Listserve, offered by DFO, has undergone changes. If you are subscribed you will still receive Prawn Fishery announcements from DFO. You will not, however, be able to post messages. You are encouraged to use the Prawn Forum on this site for discussion relevant to the spot prawn industry. A new look Prawnvoice and bulletin board system is in the works but not ready yet.

Aug 03 News and links for the past year have been moved to the Archives 2002. If you have trouble with broken links please contact Prawnvoice.