Eating With the Ecosystem

At Skipper Otto, one of our guiding principles is eating with the ecosystem. This means matching our seafood consumption with the rhythms of the ocean and respecting the seasonality of each species of seafood. It also ensures we are not putting undue pressure on a single sought-after species.

The 2019 Fishing Season

This year’s spot prawn season was strong which gave some of our fishermen a good start to their season and our members plenty of delicious prawns to enjoy. This year we were also pleased our fishermen did well with halibut, lingcod and July chum fishing–all species our members were able to enjoy in more abundance this year than other years.

We knew there would be some challenges to the 2019 fishing season, but we also knew that our members are accustomed to eating with the ecosystem and enjoying whatever seafood nature provides in abundance any given season. Sockeye was scarce throughout BC this year and, as a result, there wasn’t a lot of it for our members. The DFO also postposed most chinook salmon fishing until late in the year to protect vulnerable stocks and resident orcas. Despite those precautions on some areas of the coast, the chinook runs on the west coast of Vancouver Island came in stronger than expected and chinook was able to be enjoyed later in the season.

Seasonality Guide – What to Expect for 2020

Want to know what is in season and when? We’ve created a handy Seasonality Guide, updated for 2020 to answer all your questions! This simple guide shows when our fishing families plan on harvesting each species of seafood, however it is good to keep in mind that fishing is always a bit uncertain! There are many factors that may affect exactly when each species is available, including weather, fishing openings, abundance, access to fish processing (cutting and freezing), so please keep that in mind when thinking about your seafood schedule!

Download the seasonality guide and save it on your phone or print it out for future reference.

For the most up to date information on seasonal availability, please keep an eye on your email inbox for stories from the sea as well as fishing family updates, and, of course, order reminders! Members can also log into the dock for currently available products in their area.

We’re so grateful for the flexibility of our members who enter into this agreement to enjoy the bounty of seafood that the ecosystem provides on any given year. Rather than putting more strain on just a few globally-sought-after species, our members are happy to support our fishing families for the catch that makes the most environmental sense this year. We’re excited to have you aboard for what lies ahead!

Not a member yet? Sign up today and support ethical, traceable sustainable Canadian seafood that is good for your family and the environment!