A relationship of transparency, fairness, and equality.


A fishing veteran, not missing a single salmon fishing season between 1969 and 2016! Otto retired for the second time when he sold his boat in 2018 (it might stick this time!)

miniboatOmega V minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationNorthern & Mid Coast

Shaun is our lead fisher and fishing industry expert with an MA in the history and political economy of the BC fishing industry and a lifetime fishing the BC coast. For the 2023 fishing season, his two sons Oliver and Lyndon joined him, with Oliver taking on a newly appointed deckhand position on the Eldorado.

miniboatEldorado minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationWest Coast of Vancouver Island & Mid-Coast

Andrew Aiyout first started fishing for arctic char with his father, and fellow Skipper Otto fisher Tommy Aiyout, along with his brother, Wayne. They can still be found fishing together to this day, making the two hour one-way trip out on their snowmobiles from Taloyoak to Tahik Lake in Nunavut. Andrew has four children, and his youngest, Howie Sylvester's favourite food is fresh arctic char!

miniboatSnowmobile minifishArctic char minihookGillnet and auger minilocationTahik Lake, Nunavut

Tommy Aiyout is a skilled and active hunter living in Taloyoak, Nunavut. As a former mayor and current council member, Tommy works to contribute to the well-being of his community in addition to spending time on the land harvesting traditional Inuit foods for his extended family. As a member of the Canadian Rangers, he is seemingly impervious to the cold. His expertise in guiding, scouting, and wilderness survival supports search and rescue, surveillance, and patrol operations in the Canadian Arctic. Equally importantly he helps train future generations – including his own children and grandchildren – how to survive and thrive in the Arctic.

miniboatSnowmobile minifishArctic char minihookGillnet and auger minilocationTahik Lake, Nunavut

Todd is a third generation fisher, and Melanie is a second generation fisher having started as deckhand for her dad when she was young. Their teenage son, Chase, and teenage nephew, Elijah, were both onboard helping as deckhands for their salmon trip for Skipper Otto in 2023.

miniboatOcean Jade minifishSalmon minihookTrolling minilocationNorth of Haida Gwaii

We first met Delia back in the June of 2015 when she emailed us looking for a way to connect her lovingly-grown oysters and clams to local consumers. She had heard about our CSF and was very eager that our innovative model of connecting fishermen directly to consumers might provide an alternative to selling her shellfish overseas, as is the case with the vast majority of our locally grown shellfish. We were intrigued at the possibility of being able to offer ethical, local shellfish directly to our members and at being able to help the shellfish growers of Cortes Island continue their traditional, small-scale way of life!

miniboat minifishOysters minihookBeach-grown! minilocationCortes Island, BC

Gear Methods

Gear Methods

How do gear methods work?

miniboat minifish minihook minilocation
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Darin's family has been in the BC fishing industry for generations. He started fishing when he was 10 years old. Currently based out of False Creek in Vancouver, he more recently has caught Dungeness crab for Skipper Otto.

miniboatWolf Claw minifishDungeness crab minihookTrapping minilocationGeorgia Straight

Joel and Melissa fish aboard their 42′ boat, Lisa Jess, using a butterfly trawl net in Johnstone Strait, BC. A 4th generation fisher, Joel grew up fishing and took over his parents fishing operations in 2014. Learn all about Joel and Melissa Collier's experience fishing for Skipper Otto on our blog!

miniboatLisa Jess minifishScallops, spot prawns, & salmon minihookButterfly trawl, trapping, & trolling minilocationVancouver Island and Haida Gwaii

Rick, a fourth generation fisher, fishes up and down the BC coast. He has been fishing for as long as he can remember.

miniboatRed Bone minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationMost areas of BC Coast

Lee hails from Metchosin B.C on Vancouver Island, and got his start working at a marine boat rental shop in high school. He met fellow Skipper Otto fisher Guy Johnston by chance in 2005 at the docks in Cowichan Bay. Guy owned an oyster farm and needed harvesters, so Lee gave him a helping hand, and learned to harvest prawns and salmon. 18 years later they are still fishing together and Lee now skippers Guy’s new “Michelle Rose” boat solo in the waters around Haida Gwaii for salmon.

miniboatMichelle Rose minifishSalmon minihookTrolling minilocationNorth of Haida Gwaii

John is a multi-generation fisher - he’s pretty sure he went from the hospital directly to the fishing boat. He has been fishing with his dad and grandfather for as long as he can remember, and now often fishes the coast with his nine-year-old son Riley. John is from the Kwantlen First Nation in Fort Langley, but now lives in Port Alberni and is married to a Tseshaht fisher who also fishes her own boat in the commercial community economic opportunity fishery.

miniboatSilvermate minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationNorth and Central coast of BC

Gordie, a third generation fisherman, fishes salmon runs all along the BC coast. He has been fishing since he was a kid and remembers starting off as a deckhand for his older sister.

miniboatSure Thing minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationCentral and south coast of BC

Dave Martynuik

Introducing Dave Martynuik our new halibut fisher!

miniboatLaur-Inda-Lee minifishHalibut minihookBottom longline minilocationNorth coast of Haida Gwaii
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Dave Martynuik


Guy has been fishing for over 40 years, and feels fortunate to have fished with his family for many years. His two children, Sebastien and Rosalie, have been crew and fished with him since high school, and fishing with their dad helped both of them go to university. For over 18 years he has also been a mentor and friend to our new salmon fisher Lee Gallagher. In the off season, Guy spends much of his time advocating for independent fishers in BC.

miniboatMichelle Rose minifishSalmon minihookTrolling minilocationNorth of Haida Gwaii

Doug is a multi-generation ‘Namgis First Nation fisherman. Doug fished with his grandpa in the 1960’s and has fished ever since. His children join him as crew on some trips. Learn more about Doug and how he fishes halibut on our blog!

miniboatPaper Chase minifishHalibut & salmon minihookBottom longlining minilocationNorthwest Coast of Vancouver Island

Clint began fishing as a teenager alongside his uncle, and has now been fishing with Bruce Martinelli for just over a decade. This was his sixth year captaining the boat on various trips.

miniboatTantrum No. 1 minifishTuna minihookTrolling minilocationOff the coasts of Vancouver Island, BC & Oregon/Washington

Luura (Laurent) has memories of his grandparents departing for fishing trips by dog sled when he was a young boy. When Luura goes fishing these days, he goes out alone and punches a hole in the ice by hand with a steel chisel, even when the ice is more than five feet thick! Luura loves fishing and catching healthy, delicious Arctic char for relatives that are no longer able to get out on the land themselves.

miniboatSnowmobile minifishArctic char minihookGillnet and auger minilocationTahik Lake, Nunavut

Truong was one of the boat people who fled Vietnam in 1975, and he ended up in Campbell River, BC. He took up fishing when he arrived, and has now been prawning for over 30 years. His sons and daughter have prawned alongside him over the last decade.

miniboatWestern Sun minifishSpot prawns minihookTrapping minilocationCentral coast of BC

Dean, a third generation fisherman, fishes salmon runs all along the BC coast. He has been fishing since he was a kid and still fishes alongside his father, Danny and his gillnetter.

miniboatOld Style minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationMost areas of BC Coast

Natasha is a multi-generation cisaa?th (Tseshaht) First Nation fisher who fishes salmon on her custom-built aluminum boat in Alberni Inlet/Somass River with her daughters aged 21 and 10. She is a Tseshaht First Nation Councillor holding the economic development portfolio and has just completed her SFU Indigenous Business Leadership Executive MBA.

miniboat minifishSalmon minihookGillnet minilocationWest coast of Vancouver Island

Willard is a multi-generation cisaa?th (Tseshaht) First Nation fisher, who grew up fishing with his dad and sister, Natasha. He now also fishes alongside his kids! Late in 2023 Willard suffered from a heart attack, and we are all wishing him a speedy recovery.

miniboat minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationWest coast of Vancouver Island

Bruce has been fishing for over 30 years. His wife, Pilar, and his young son, Rex, join him on some of their trips. Bruce and his brother Steve grew up in a lighthouse on the BC coast and are the first fishermen in their family. Read the Martinelli's stories from the sea on our blog!

miniboatTantrum No. 1 minifishTuna & lingcod minihookTrolling minilocationOff the coasts of Vancouver Island, BC & Oregon/Washington

Dafne’s approach to kelp harvesting is well-researched and thoughtful. She harvests her product by hand and chooses to collect less than 10% of kelp beds in order to leave a healthy and sustainable marine canopy. After harvest, the product is gently dried to maintain the most nutrients.

miniboat minifishKelp minihookHarvested on shore minilocationHaida Gwaii

Les, a multi-generation cisaa?th (Tseshaht) First Nation fisher, learned to fish from his dad. He now fishes with his two sons and grandson.

miniboat minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationWest coast of Vancouver Island, BC

Richie is a first generation fisher. Having worked on boats as mechanic in his early life, he decided to take the plunge and pursue fishing as a career. That was 40 years ago -- he's been fishing ever since!

miniboatSurf Isle minifishHalibut & sablefish minihookBottom longline minilocationNorth of Haida Gwaii

Paul is the founder of Salt Spring Island Mussels. Paul grew his mussel farm from just a tiny operation to now supplying restaurants across Canada, all while staying true to the values of community, environmental conservation, and living wages that we hold so dear. He credits his amazing and talented team for all this success and is very forthcoming about all the trials and tribulations of getting to where they are now.

miniboat minifishMussels minihookGrown and harvested minilocationSalt Spring Island & Desolation Sound, BC

Darryl Siusangnark is a professional harvester who makes his living off the land around Naujaat in Nunavut, and is a key provider of fish for his community, supplying food for elders, food-insecure households, family, friends, community feasts, and commercial sales. He started fishing with his father in early childhood and has been fishing on his own since he was 18. The way he fishes is a bit different from our other fishermen. Along with other Inuit fishers in his community, Darryl braves frigid weather conditions and travels across the wintry tundra by snowmobile to catch fish from below the ice of frozen lakes using an auger and gillnets. Check out Darryl's story on our blog!

miniboatSnowmobile minifishArctic char minihookGillnet and auger minilocationLake Itirjuk, Nunavut

Toan is a third generation fisher and her passion for fishing started when she was a child, her grandfather was a fisher and she was then taught by her father, who owned and operated many fishing boats in Vietnam. She moved to Canada with her family, and has now been fishing for over 30 years. Her vessel is named after her youngest child, and although none of her children fish with her, she often has the help of her husband, Hong, on board as her crew.

miniboatBrian N minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationWest coast of Vancouver Island, BC

Francis is the first in his family to fish, and has kept at it for over 10 years now. He fishes aboard his 43' troller on the north coast of Vancouver Island.

miniboatTa-Nika minifishSalmon minihookTrolling minilocationNorth coast of Haida Gwaii

Cary is a 4th generation fisher on both sides of his family. His brother and cousins all currently work alongside him on the boat depending on the season. He is based out of Sointula, BC which is where his family has lived and worked for generations. Cary started fishing with his dad when he was 11 but had been on trips since he was small.

miniboatIsland Sun minifishHake & rockfish minihookMid-water trawling minilocationOff the west coast of Vancouver Island

Read more about our fishing families' stories over on our blog.

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Scott

Member since 2018

"This is an amazing service. I love that the food is from right outside my window and I can walk to pick up the catch. Plus we keep local people working. :)"