Spot prawns festival more popular than ever at Vancouver's Fisherman's Wharf

An event that began 10 years ago as a way for Vancouverchefs to encourage the use oflocal spot prawns on their menus has grown into a tasty public feast where tickets now sell out days in advance.

"It's grown from a little group of chefs having a little spot prawn festival to ... it's enormous, look around," said chef Robert Clark from Vancouver's Fisherman's Wharf on West 1st Avenue.

"Every year it increases, it just gets bigger and bigger, and better and better."

On Sunday, 2,000 people paid $17.50 each for platters of seafood atVancouver's Spot Prawn Festival which is hosted by the Chefs' Table Society of BC.

"This is our biggest year ever," said Cline Turenne, the society's executive director who added the event sold out a week before.

According to the festival, B.C.'s spot prawn season starts in May and lasts up toeight weeks.

Up to 90 per cent of what is caught is consumed in Japan and other Asian countries.

There is a limit on the number of vessels that can commercially harvest spot prawns and the number of traps that can be used. The fishery is closed when stocks approach a pre-determined level.

"We're about elevating British Columbian, Canadian food, Canadian cuisine," said Clark about local chefs using spot prawns. "And part of that is making sure that what we buy, what we grow, what we serve, what we cook comes from a sustainable source.

"It's the single most responsible decision we can make as chefs."