News From the Top Deck


2023 was our 15th season as a Community Supported Fishery and a year filled with powerful impact and exciting new relationships, achievements, and recognitions. And in spite of ongoing crises, conflicts, and anxieties in the world, Skipper Otto continues to be a refuge for me, a community built on meaningful human connection and collaboration, reminding … Continued

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Changing of Seasons – a reflection

October 26, 2023

(Photo credit: Sonia Strobel, Fishing boat Eldorado) I always find the change of seasons to be a powerful time for reflection. This year’s final day of summer and first day of autumn were particularly filled with nostalgia and reflection for me as we headed out on a boat repositioning trip. Boat repositioning trips are a … Continued

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Building Bridges – a reflection

September 29, 2023

(Photo credit: Justin Milton, a young Inuit man from Pond Inlet, explains what fish mean to Inuit) All this week, I am honoured to be a guest at a North-South knowledge sharing circle with Inuit youth convened by our friends at two great non-profit organizations: Ikaarvik and Ocean Wise. Ikaarvik is the Inuktitut word for … Continued

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Standing Up for Our Fishers: An Unsatisfying Conclusion

September 8, 2023

Back in early June, we shared a story about our halibut fisher, Doug Kostering and DFO’s seizure of his catch. It’s been a long bumpy road this summer with an unsatisfying conclusion so we feel it is the right time for an update.  As a recap, our longtime halibut fisher, Doug Kostering, was accused by … Continued

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Taste Test: The 5 Pacific salmon species

July 10, 2023

A few years ago (when all 5 salmon species were available and abundant), the team at Skipper Otto put salmon to the test. In a blind taste test, the team tried each of the 5 species of Pacific salmon, side by side, and compared them. The results were fascinating, surprising and delicious! The Method How … Continued

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We are happy to share that the salmon season has begun, and our fishers report a good start to the season! That said, we wanted to provide our members with an update on what we expect for the season ahead, and which salmon species will be available for 2023. Sockeye Salmon  From all accounts, it … Continued

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Standing Up for Our Fishers: A Message from Sonia

June 8, 2023

The reason I co-founded Skipper Otto with my husband Shaun, was to stand up for and support independent fishing families, and this mission has never been more important. On Friday June 2nd, armed DFO officers visited both our Fisherman’s Wharf location in False Creek, Vancouver, as well as our cold storage facility in Surrey, BC, … Continued

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Skipper Otto Seasonality Guide

May 31, 2023

Fishing is a difficult industry to plan, but we always like to let our members know what to expect for the coming year! We do our best to predict what our fishers will be catching – and when we expect it will be available, so we created this handy seasonality guide. Remember though: these are … Continued

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Stronger Together: BC Young Fishermen’s Gathering

April 18, 2023

The fishing industry in Canada has been really good at breaking apart connections over the last 150 years. It has separated consumers from harvesters through long complex supply chains; pitted Indigenous and non-Indigenous harvesters against one another and moved the industry out of the hands of independent families. The resulting scarcity mentality and pervasive “us … Continued

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Favourite CSA’S in Metro Vancouver

April 5, 2023

We know that you, our members truly value knowing where their food comes from, and in our case, who caught your sustainable seafood. So when we asked you to fill out a quick survey and tell us who your favourite CSA’s were, we received a tremendous response and a very full list! So we got … Continued

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Ronda

Member since 2017

"The chum salmon recipe in your last newsletter was the best fish I ever made! "