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.
miniboatEldorado minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationWest Coast of Vancouver Island & Mid-Coast
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
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
Mike, a fourth generation fisher, fishes with his partner, Sharon, for salmon along the west coast of Vancouver Island. Mike has fished his own boat since he was 14 years old. He and Sharon met when they were young and have been fishing together for decades.
miniboatT-Bone minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationWest coast of Vancouver Island, BC
Joel & 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 last year.
miniboatLisa Jess minifishScallops, spot prawns, & salmon minihookButterfly trawl, trapping, & trolling minilocationVancouver Island and Haida Gwaii

Gear Methods

Gear Methods

How do gear methods work?

How was this fish caught? This is an important question you should be asking anytime you eat seafood. Some gear methods can have damaging effects on delicate marine ecosystems and animal populations while others are designed to do the least damage to habitats and to minimize by-catch. Check out our quick explanation of some of the most common fishing methods you may hear about.

miniboat minifish minihook minilocation
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Mother and son, Jocelyn and Erikk, multi-generation cisaa?th (Tseshaht) First Nation fishers, fish as a team. Jocelyn learned to fish from her dad, and started operating her first boat when she was 13 years old. You can learn more about Jocelyn's story and what she's taught us in our blog!
miniboat minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationWest coast of Vancouver Island, BC
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
Ever since Bretton bought her oyster farm in 2020, she's been living off grid, working on the water with her dog Bagheera alongside her, and harvesting and flash-freezing delicious Pacific oysters in a sustainable manner off the pristine waters off Nelson Island, BC. Learn more about Bretton's oysters in our blog!
miniboat minifishPacific oysters minihookSurface culture minilocationNelson Island, 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
Randy Kitagawa fishes out of the Sunshine Coast with his sons, Cory and Jeff, and his wife Shannon's son, Matt aboard the 30' boat, Norwestern. Randy's family has deep roots in the fishing community of Steveston, BC – his grandfather used to work at the Gulf of Georgia cannery that is now a museum!
miniboatNorwestern minifishDungeness crab & spot prawns minihookTrapping minilocationSunshine Coast
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 in our blog!
miniboatPaper Chase minifishHalibut & salmon minihookBottom longlining minilocationNorthwest Coast of Vancouver Island

Jocelyn Dick

Meet Jocelyn Dick, Multi-Generational Tseshaht Fisher

"[My relationship with Jocelyn] started with a cautious phone call and pretty quickly graduated to engaging conversations around ethics, justice, and Indigenous world-views. She taught me all about how Economic Opportunity fisheries work for Tseshaht and Hupacasath fishers in her community — what works and what doesn’t. She shared stories of collaboration and true community, of people that have each other’s backs no matter what. [...] And as the salmon began to make their return to the Somass river outside Jocelyn’s front door — and she shared photos and videos of splashes made by countless jumpers and her excitement for what their return meant for her and her community — I decided it was time to make a trip to Port Alberni to hang out in person."

miniboat minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationWest coast of Vancouver Island, BC
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Jocelyn Dick

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
Danny, a second generation fisherman, often fishes in coordination with his son, Dean.
miniboatAbout Time I minifishSalmon minihookGillnetting minilocationNorth & Central 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 new, custom-built aluminum boat in Alberni Inlet/Somass River with her daughers aged 20 and 9. She is a Tseshaht First Nation Councillor holding the economic development portfolio and is also attending the 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!
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 in 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 in our blog.
miniboatSnowmobile minifishArctic char minihookGillnet and auger minilocationLake Itirjuk, Nunavut
Simon Qamanirq is a professional harvester who makes his living off the land around Igloolik in Nunavut. He is a very generous provider of fish for his community, supplying food for elders, family, friends and both the Igloolik Hunters and Trappers Association and the Arctic Bay Hunters and Trappers Association for community distribution. He started fishing with his ittug (grandfather) when he was a young boy. Travelling up to 8 hours by snowmobile from Igloolik across the open (frozen) Arctic Ocean he enjoys mentoring youth from Igloolik and teaching them to catch fish from below the ice of Igalugasugvik lake.
miniboatSnowmobile minifishArctic char minihookGillnet and auger minilocationLake Igalugasugvik, Nunavut
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
Matt has been prawning and crabbing for the last 3 years in the family business led by his stepdad, Randy Kitagawa. This is his first season captaining the Robson Byte!
miniboatRobson Byte minifishSpot prawns & Dungeness crab minihookTrapping minilocationSunshine Coast
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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Stephanie

Member since 2018

"The fish is fresh, local, so tasty and the staff is knowledgeable and friendly. The locations for pickup are convenient and the ordering process is efficient. The website has photos of the products and the product has a photo and bio of the fisherman who caught the fish. I love the transparency, the commitment to supporting the local fishing community, and of upholding the belief that fresh, untainted, healthy fish is best! Thank you to all the staff and fishermen!"