Crab Fishers hold downtown protest over DFO crab fishery closure

A number of crab fishermen, who recently had their season cut short by a Department of Fisheries and Oceans closure announcement held a protest Friday morning in front of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Office on 2nd Avenue West.

The protest which began at 9 AM consisted of crab fishermen  and their supporters, expressing their concerns over that announcement, with speeches and discussions with passers by taking place in front of the DFO building.

In a press release, the Area A Crab Fishermen's Association vowed "to shut down the DFO building in Prince Rupert on Friday, June 28 to protest the decision"

The Crab Association is seeking to have the DFO decision reversed.

Estimates had the crowd attending the protest to be numbered at around 40-50 or so participants.

Some Background on the events leading to today's protest can be found from this news release from the Area A crab organization.

Members of the RCMP were in attendance to keep a watch on developments.

At the time of this posting, the protest was still underway.

Update:  The CBC's Daybreak North's George Baker took to twitter with this snapshot of the morning protest.

Further Media reports on the DFO decision and updates on today's protest can be found below:

July 8-- Vancouver Province-- B. C. crab fishermen boiling at DFO closure order
CFTK-- Prince Rupert Fishermen Blockade (video)
CFTK-- Crab Fishermen Picket DFO Office in Prince Rupert
Victoria Times Colonist-- Crab closure angers northern B. C. fishermen
Vancouver Province-- Crab fishermen blockade DFO office in Prince Rupert
Vancouver Sun-- B. C. North Coast Crab Fishermen fear economic disaster from unexpected closure
Northern View--  DFO cites lack of data for crab fishery closure, but crab association cries foul