Salish Sea,
San Juan Islands
Mid June, 2022
One of the many things I love about living in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) is the plethora of delicacies that one can forage with just a little effort and enjoy fresh at the dinner table. Recently I scored on three major delicacies that were for the taking, given a bit of good timing and no small amount of luck.
In part 1 here, I will share the bounty of the first of my three forage hauls: Spot Prawns from the Salish Sea. Oyster mushrooms from our local forests and oysters from our Salish Sea beaches will come in part 2. Indeed they are all delicacies to be savored.
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns spinning around us — Phenology! We invite you to note what you are seeing and experiencing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below. Nature is Big. |
I have boated for many years in these islands and caught hundreds of crab and some shrimp, but had never got to the ultimate local shellfish: the Spot Prawn. When my friend called and asked me to accompany him and another friend to catch prawns, I jumped at the chance. The weather was not looking great and there was a lot of water moving through the islands as this was the season of maximum tide change which, along with the predicted wind portended a “bumpy” ride. However, the prawn season in this area of the Salish Sea is only open 12 days a year and we were already well into that. It was now or never.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
We headed out in light rain from Chuckanut Bay, just a few miles south of Bellingham, WA in a 20 foot Parker with a 150 Yamaha outboard. We took the southern route across Rosario Strait, and south of Orcas Island and up its west side to our destination which was just off Waldron Island at the top left hand corner of the map. As you can see, it was low clouds and rain but beautiful none the less.
Our Quarry: Spot prawns
Spot prawns are found in the waters off the west coast from San Diego all the way to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska as well as in the Sea of Japan and along the Korean Peninsula. They are considered by many as the premier shellfish in these waters.
Here is a quote from a google search as to why they are so highly sought and I can attest to its veracity:
What Do Spot Prawns Taste Like? Spot prawns taste like the best shrimp you have ever had. The texture is delicate, almost buttery, providing a sort of melt-in-your-mouth sensation, and the flavor is sweet, fresh, and briny. Jul 28, 2021
Following are a few photos of the marine and island terrain along the way.
\
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Arrival at the Prawn depot:
Arriving at the fishing/prawn hole, we baited up the 4 prawn pots and chucked them overboard with 400 foot of line on each with a buoy attached for retrieval. A small anchor was attached to the pot to keep it from dragging in the tidal current. We waited for about an hour as we were blown around while trying to keep tabs on where the buoys were.
Clik here to view.
The State limit allows 80 Spot Prawns per license, so for the three of us that would total to 240, if we were lucky enough. An acquaintance we knew had been to the same place recently and reportedly scored a grand total of 18! That would be a strike out. We remained optimistic nonetheless.
The trip out was bumpy but not too bad. The scenery is always captivating, no matter how many times we’ve seen it. And I’ve been traveling this way now for over 50 years and have loved every one of them.
The Haul
Let’s see what we got.
Pulling up the first pot, we got 57 prawns which was great and portended that we might actually get our three limits of 80 prawns each given that we still had three pots to pull. And indeed we did just that. We got almost to the exact number as our reward for enduring the bumps, wind and rain.
Once the Prawns were out of the water we had a nasty and laborious, but necessary task. They had to be beheaded right away. So the task was, pull them out of the pot and twist the heads off, which consists of half of the prawn and toss it back into the water. See below:
Apparently once the prawns die, their heads secrete some enzyme that turns the body black and softens the meat rendering it inedible. I have thus far been unable to learn what that enzyme is but all the web sites say that is what happens although none say what the enzyme is. Any ideas?
.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
The trip back was a bit more bumpy and rocky and rolly. As an indication of just how bumpy this ride was I checked the step counter on my iphone when we got back. I had actually walked relatively little that day but the iphone recorded 17,438 steps — or rather bumps. I am sure that at least 15,000 of those were wave bumps, not steps on terra firma.
Clik here to view.
Spot Prawns facts:
1. Prawns are sequential hermaphrodites in that males convert to females after they reach a certain age (2 to 4 years) and reach a certain size.
2. Prawns have 5 pairs of swimming legs (pleopods), and 5 pairs of walking legs. The first pair of walking legs have claws, the second pair has a longer left leg than the right one.
3. How do they differ from shrimp?
Generally prawns are larger than shrimp, but one of the key defining features between the two crustaceans is the claw structure: Both have five sets of legs (10 legs total); shrimp have claws on the first two sets of legs, whereas prawns have claws on the first three sets.
4. They grow from 6 to 12 inches with females being larger and all grow larger in more temperate waters.
5. The maximum observed age is over 6 years and some are reported to live as long as 11. No one is really sure and there are widely conflicting reports.
6. Sustainability? From everything I have read their current harvest levels are sustainable according to the four pacific states and Sea Grant projects as well as British Columbia. However, there are concerns of adverse effects of ocean warming, acidity etc. that might not be so kind.
There you have the first of my recent gastronomical forays into our local outdoor grocery store that is the wilds of the PNW. Soon we’ll dive into PNW oysters from land and sea.