Canadian Seafood Choices: 5 Questions Every Shopper Should Ask

As if it wasn’t confusing enough trying to figure out what “Product of Canada” versus “Made in Canada” means when you’re shopping at the grocery store,* buying Canadian seafood takes this challenge to a whole new level!

Unlike in most G7 countries, seafood labelling laws in Canada only require that you label the country of “last substantial transformation." What does that mean? In most cases, this means the country where it was processed. Seafood labelled as “Made in Canada” only tells you that it was cut or packaged here. On the other hand, seafood labelled as coming from China may actually have been caught in Canada, sent to China to be processed, and shipped back to Canada. 

In addition to that, recent studies have shown that nearly half of all seafood sold in Canada may be mislabelled. That wild salmon in your cart could be farmed. The "snapper" might be tilapia. Behind those misleading labels are deeper issues: unsustainable fishing, exploitative labour, and global supply chains prioritizing profit over people. So what’s a savvy seafood shopper to do?

Keep It Simple: Buy Direct

The good news? We have some great tips on keeping it simple so you can buy top-quality Canadian seafood for your family while supporting Canadian fishing families and small businesses – none of which requires you to take a magnifying glass to the grocery store to read the fine print.

In a nutshell, the shorter the food supply chain from source to you – whether that’s a ranch, a produce farm, or the ocean – the easier it is to have transparency into what you’re eating, where it came from, and what your dollars are supporting. That’s why we always recommend buying directly from the source whenever possible. When it comes to seafood, that could mean buying at the dock, at a farmer’s market, or joining a community-supported fishery like Skipper Otto. 

Buying from the dock often means you’re buying from the fisher directly, but we recommend double checking to be sure. And if you’re lucky enough to have a fish vendor at your farmer’s market, you can ask the person at the booth how they source their seafood – you may even get to meet the fisher or one of their family members yourself! When you buy your seafood from a CSF like us, you’re buying directly from our network of fishers, and each piece of fish comes with a label that tells you exactly who caught it, where, when and how. We take pride in delivering seafood that’s exactly what we say it is—no mislabelling, no guesswork.

The Questions Every Seafood Vendor Should Be Able to Answer

Wherever you get your seafood, we wouldn’t complete a purchase if your vendor, grocery store, fish counter, or meal delivery service can’t answer the following questions:

• Where was this caught?
• When was it caught?
• How was it caught?
• Who caught it?
• How was the fisher paid?

These answers aren’t just facts; they’re the story behind your food. And you deserve to know it.

We also recommend avoiding fish that smells…well…fishy. Even previously frozen fish should have a clean scent and taste. But beware: some retail seafood may be years old due to loopholes in labelling regulations.

“An industry standard many folks don’t know,” says Sonia Strobel, Skipper Otto’s co-founder and CEO, “is that frozen seafood can carry a best-before date that is four or more years after it was caught.”

That doesn’t mean that frozen is a bad word when it comes to seafood. Flash-freezing seafood helps preserve seafood's quality, texture, and flavour. And when it is carefully stored it can maintain that quality for many months. Skipper Otto fishers either flash-freeze their catch in special freezers onboard their boats or immediately when it comes to shore. So you’re always getting the most recent season’s catch-day freshness.

When You Buy Canadian, You’re Buying More Than Just Dinner

When you buy your seafood from a trusted local source, you’re doing more than feeding your family. You’re buying Canadian, supporting local fishing families, and being part of a food system built on fairness, quality, and care.

It tastes better, feels better—and helps us all build a stronger future together.

*To be precise, here is what Canadian labelling laws mean:

• Made in Canada means a product must contain at least 51% Canadian products, and the “last substantial transformation of the product must have occurred in Canada"
• Product of Canada means it must contain at least 98% Canadian products, and, as above, was mainly made here