News From the Top Deck


Read the full story at The Vancouver Courier. Excerpt “We had the brainwave one day: maybe we could apply what farmers have done to agriculture to fishing,” Sonia said. The fishery started in 2008, and has grown to include 1,400 members. Members buy credit into the fishery in $100 increments and pay a small membership … Continued

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Fish CSAs, Herb Truck Farms, & Rye-Crusted Sturgeon: Inside Vancouver’s Food Scene, by Liz Core at Grist

April 9, 2015

Read the full story at Grist. “Shaun and Sonia Strobel at Skipper Otto’s CSF are trying to revive the local fishing scene by operating an up-and-coming sustainable fish business. It’s like a CSA, but with fish.” VGEF: Episode 8 – Vancouver from The Perennial Plate on Vimeo.

News

New Distribution Model Helps Fishery Business Expand Beyond B.C. Borders, by James Tansey for The Globe and Mail

March 24, 2015

Read the full story at The Globe and Mail. “Just over a year ago, Sonia and Shaun Strobel decided to expand their community supported fisheries business, Skipper Otto’s, beyond British Columbia’s borders. Unofficially, they were already there. The business had ballooned from 40 people buying fish from a locker on Granville Island to more than … Continued

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Getting to Know Your Sockeye Salmon

February 23, 2015

Shaun knows fish. Spending a couple of hours with Shaun at a pickup is like browsing an encyclopedia of BC fishing. If you don’t know Shaun Strobel, he and his wife Sonia co-founded Skipper Otto’s Community Supported Fishery (CSF). Otto is Shaun’s dad and they both still fish for salmon every year along BC’s coast. … Continued

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Vancouver Has An Appetite For Sustainable Seafood, by Randy Shore for The Vancouver Sun

February 3, 2015

Read the full story at The Vancouver Sun. “A longtime supporter of the local food movement, Sonia was familiar with the social enterprise model used by farmers to market their produce directly to the public. By joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) individuals and families pay at the beginning of the season for a farmer’s … Continued

News

“Local mum (and yoyomama reader!) Sonia Strobel married into a fishing family. Her husband and father-in-law were both fisherman (and teachers), but fishing’s a hard industry to make a living at and they were thinking of getting out, when they hatched the CSF idea. A bit of research showed there was no such thing (yet) … Continued

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Holiday Mode

November 27, 2014

My favourite part of working for Skipper Otto’s is hearing from you – our members and customers. These last few weeks what I’ve been hearing is that many of you have entered “Holiday Mode”. You’re fine tuning your lists of what to give and what to get, you’re researching recipes, and planning your time wisely … Continued

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Burnaby Pickups at Urban Digs Farm

November 20, 2014

For 2015, we will be having monthly seafood pickups at Urban Digs Farm, (4992 Byrne Road) in Burnaby! Members will receive the same benefits and service as our Vancouver pickups and markets. This all builds off the success of our pilot run in 2014. Urban Digs Farm is a small farm in South Burnaby that … Continued

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#DonateMPNH

November 14, 2014

Every year since 2009 Skipper Otto’s has carried on a tradition of donating unused shares to community organizations in need of food donations. In the past we have donated to the Vancouver Food Bank, Food Runners, and to several private, low-income families. This summer we donated over $1000 of salmon, tuna, and halibut to Food … Continued

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2015 Updates

October 3, 2014

We’re always working towards making the CSF better! A few ways we’ll be doing this in 2015 are: – No online transaction fee – No shipping fees for out-of-town members – Members will be able roll remaining credit over from one year to the next – Membership now goes January 1 – Dec 31 – … Continued

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Diane

Member since 2015

"I quite enjoy reading about the fishermen, their fishing families, and getting fish info and updates. I feel like you guys go the extra mile to keep customers happy."