'Amazing' haul expected at this year's Spot Prawn Festival

They're pink, juicy, sweet and a sure sign of spring.

Spot prawn season is now open and the B.C. delicacy is being celebrated in Vancouver at the Spot Prawn Festival on Saturday.

"The spot prawns are going to be amazing this year," said chef Erin Vickars, a member of the Chefs' Table Society of British Columbia, which is hosting the event.

Twenty Vancouver chefs will participate in the festival, with all proceeds going toward a scholarship program supporting students entering B.C.'s hospitality industry.

The chefs will also showcase free demonstrations of prawn cooking methods.

2,450 tonnes harvested yearly

According to the society, almost 2,450 tonnes of wild B.C. spot prawns are harvested each year. Most are harvested in the waters between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.

B.C. spot prawns — the largest commercial shrimp found on the West Coast — turn pink when cooked and are identifiable by white bars and spots along the creature's body.

Interestingly, the animals change sex from male to female halfway through their lives.

Spot prawn season typically starts in May and runs through to the beginning of summer, with most of B.C.'s catch exported to Asia.

A tough task

Vickars said harvesting spot prawns is a difficult task.

Fishers leave early in the morning, drop their water traps in areas approved by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and return later in the day to collect their haul.

For the festival, the prawns are brought directly to Vancouver's Fisherman's Wharf in False Creek.

"And then we get to enjoy them," said Vickars. "They're alive and kicking and tasty and delicious."

When picking which live prawns to buy, Vickars advises paying attention to their bodies.

Desirable prawns will have clear bodies that aren't cloudy. 

The festival runs May 12, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

With files from The Early Edition