You may have seen recent articles like this one in today’s Vancouver Sun about the extremely low numbers of sockeye salmon returning to the Fraser River this year. And while this year’s closure of fishing on the Fraser River sockeye runs was not entirely unexpected, the realities are much worse than anticipated and this has conscientious sustainable seafood consumers wondering what’s going on. Are sockeye salmon at risk in general? Is it possible they are being over fished? Should we be worried about eating BC salmon? As a Community Supported Fishery, we think it’s important to engage with these questions and to keep ourselves and our members informed so that we are making the best decisions with the most up-to-date information about our precious marine ecosystems.
Here is our best understanding of the current situation with Fraser River sockeye salmon, and BC salmon in general. We hope it helps you make informed choices about your seafood consumption!
The Salmon Life Cycle Makes Overfishing Unlikely
The lifecycle of a salmon makes monitoring populations easier than for other species, and our current practices are informed by many generations of wisdom developed by our first peoples who lived so closely in tune with salmon. The lives of wild, BC salmon start when they hatch from their eggs in creeks and rivers around the province, sometimes hundreds of kilometres from the pacific ocean. They then spend a year or more making their way out to the ocean where they can spend 2 or more years, sometimes travelling half way to Japan! When the final year of their life draws near, all salmon return to the river of their birth to spawn, sometimes within metres of where they themselves were hatched.
Chum salmon, for example, return to their spawning grounds every 4 years. As they begin to detect freshwater from their home river, they undergo a drastic transformation. Their skin changes from silver bright scales to tiger-striped green and purple! The males in particular grow hooked beaks with a sharp tooth at the end which they use to fight off rivals.
After swimming for hundreds of kilometres up rivers and through streams, female salmon lay their eggs in the gravel of the stream bed. The males then fertilize the eggs. Both males and females die as soon as they have completed their spawn. Their nutrients are an incredibly valuable part of our ecosystem — in no other significant way are marine nutrients brought back up river to feed bears and other animals, and to fertilize plants. A new generation of salmon will hatch and make its way back out to sea to repeat the cycle.
For thousands of years, humans have been part of this delicate ecosystem, harvesting salmon at various stages along the way to spawn. The numbers of salmon that return each year have grown in response to predation by all animals including humans. Today, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) carefully monitors spawning salmon. They use knowledge from the spawn 4 years earlier, numbers of fry that leave the river each year to spend their lives in the ocean, coupled with data collected from sea to river to predict how many salmon need to spawn in a given year to maintain the viability of the run. As the spawn begins, the DFO has various ways of counting returning salmon including at narrow river channels and in the spawning beds themselves where monitors are charged with the task of counting fish. When spawning beds are full, any other salmon that return to their stream will simply dig up the eggs of previous spawners to complete their spawn and will not increase the strength of the run. These surplus fish are what we are permitted to catch for First Nations food fish as well as for commercial and recreational fishing.
When numbers of spawners of any particular species in any particular stream are low, there are options to ensure the run is protected. The DFO can close fisheries for a few days or a week to allow more escapement. They can also restrict mesh size or hours of fishing (day vs night) to ensure that accidental by catch of a vulnerable salmon species is reduced.
Salmon gillnetting and trolling are fishing methods with very low by catch. These methods allow fishermen to specifically target one species of salmon and to live-release any by catch of unintended salmon. Gillnetters are required to have revival tanks on board so that if a vulnerable salmon species is caught, it can be revived with water pumped through its gills before it is released.
If It’s Not Overfishing, Then What Is It?
Significant bodies of research have illustrated that overfishing is not the cause of the decline of salmon runs. Even when less sustainable methods of fishing are used, sockeye, chum, and pink salmon simply are not present on our coast throughout most of the year so it is not possible to overfish them.
So if overfishing is not the cause of the decline of some runs of salmon, what is? Historically, hydroelectric dams, logging, railroad construction, and rock slides resulting from these industries have accounted for decreases in spawning salmon. In 2009, the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run spurred the multi-year Cohen Commission to investigate. The 3-volume report points to rising ocean temperatures, illegal poaching, and diseases spread through fish farms among the likely contributors to the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye. It also made over 60 recommendations, none of which were acted upon by the previous government. A few weeks ago, the current government announced its intention to take action on all the items listed in the Cohen Commission. This would be a good start to better understanding and protecting our vulnerable Fraser River sockeye.
Salmon Are Resilient
The realities are alarming and a lot of work needs to be done to protect our salmon which are a so woven into the fabric of BC’s ecosystems, culture, spirituality, and economy. But the good news is that salmon are incredibly resilient and have some remarkable evolutionary features that have helped keep their populations strong even in the face of incredible adversity.
15-20% of some species of salmon spawn on the 5th year, rather than on the 4th year. These 5th-year spawners are able to rapidly re-populate a damaged year. This was the case in 1913 when the Canadian National Railway completely blocked the Fraser River with a massive mudslide while using explosives to build a tunnel. Within just a few spawning cycles (around 20 years) that year was once again the brood year, illustrating that, when left to recover, salmon are incredibly resilient.
Know Your Fisherman
More than ever, it’s imperative people ask where their salmon comes from, and that it is legitimately caught and legally sold from abundant runs in BC. It’s also important to keep in mind that this was not, in fact, a “bad year for fishing” everywhere on the coast, and many sockeye salmon returns showed up with higher than expected numbers! All our sockeye were caught in the Skeena (late but strong), Barkley Sound (stronger than predicted for the 2nd year in a row), and Smith Inlet (one of the strongest returns in the last 20 years). And each piece of salmon proudly bears the name and face of the fisherman who caught it, as well as the boat name, date, and area the salmon was caught.
Our relationship with salmon is vital part of life on the coast. We have cohabited with salmon for thousands of years and, if we preserve the important multi-generational wisdom that resides within fishing families, and pay attention to facts, research, and sound science, we can preserve this delicate relationship indefinitely. Thank you for knowing and supporting your local fishing families!
2023 prices are shown here. Prices do fluctuate each year. Higher price ranges reflect the inclusion of shipping costs for locations outside of Metro Vancouver.
Arctic Char is caught between the months of November and March. We usually carry it from December onwards and often sell out by late spring or early summer.
PRODUCT
SEASON
Artic Char
NOV-MAR
PRODUCT
PRICE
Artic Char portion
$27 – 32 per lb
Shellfish
Our wild, pink and spiny scallops are individually frozen and packed into 2lb packages. They can be cooked from frozen in one of your favourite clam or mussel recipes. We also offer cans of smoked scallops. In Vancouver, we offer live options at various False Creek Fishermen’s Wharf pick-ups during the year. Mussels are a special treat and one we offer every week during their season, while live Dungeness crab and beach oysters are usually available a few times a year.
2023 prices are shown here. Prices do fluctuate each year. The higher price ranges reflect the inclusion of shipping costs for locations outside of Metro Vancouver.
Scallops are caught between Nov-Feb each year but we aim to keep them in stock year round. Live Mussels are available at weekly pick-ups between July-March. Live Dungeness Crab is available at on 2-3 occasions only between Aug-March. Live beach oysters are available on 2-3 occasions only between Nov-March.
PRODUCT
SEASON
Scallops
JAN-FEB
Oysters
JAN-FEB
Mussels
JUN-APR
Dungeness Crab
JUL-SEP
PRODUCT
PRICE
Scallops
$24-$29 per 2lb box
Beach Oysters (Fishermen’s Wharf only)
$13.75-$19.50 per dozen
Mussels (Fishermen’s Wharf only)
$8.95/lb
Dungeness crab (Fishermen’s Wharf only)
$20-22 per lb
Salmon
We carried a wide mix of salmon products in the 2023 season. While specific offerings can vary from year to year, we always have lots of salmon to choose from. Our mainstay products are flash-frozen, boneless, skin-on fillets and portions – in sizes between 1lb and ½ lb each. We also carry hot smoked and cold smoked salmon and a variety of canned salmon products too.
2023 prices are shown here. Prices do fluctuate each year. Higher price ranges reflect the inclusion of shipping costs for locations outside of Metro Vancouver.
Salmon is caught between the months of June-October on the BC coast but we aim to keep it in stock year-round.
PRODUCT
SEASON
Sockeye Salmon
JUN JUL
Chinook Salmon
AUG SEP
Coho Salmon
JUL AUG
Chum Salmon
OCT
Pink Salmon
JUL AUG
PRODUCT
PRICE
Sockeye salmon fillets
$24-$27/lb
Chinook salmon fillets
$27-$30/lb
Coho salmon fillets
$26-$29/lb
Pink salmon fillets
$15-$18/lb
Candied pink salmon strips
$17-$19 per 1/2 lb package
Maple sockeye nuggets
$22-$24 per 1/2 lb package
Peppered sockeye salmon
$21-$22 per 1/2 lb package
Sockeye salmon lox
$12-13 per 100g package
Hot smoked sockeye
$20-$22 per 1/2 lb package
Canned salmon
$8-$14 per can
White Fish
Specific offerings can vary from year to year, but our mainstay products are flash-frozen, boneless, skin-on fillets and portions – in sizes that are usually around 1lb each. Lingcod fillets are usually available in both 1lb and ½ lb portion sizes. Lingcod cheeks are in roughly 1lb portion sizes. Halibut and sablefish collars are low cost options for stews and soups. Hake was not available in 2023.
2023 prices are shown here. Prices do fluctuate each year. Higher price ranges reflect the inclusion of shipping costs for locations outside of Metro Vancouver.
Halibut is caught between the months of March-November, lingcod in May, sablefish in the summer and rockfish late spring and summer. We aim to keep halibut, lingcod and rockfish in stock year-round while sablefish can be available mostly in the late summer and fall.
PRODUCT
SEASON
Halibut
MAR-NOV
Sablefish
JUL-SEP
Lingcod
MAY-JULY
Yellowtail Rockfish
JUN-SEP
PRODUCT
PRICE
Halibut fillets
$37-$40/lb
Sablefish fillets
$27-$30/lb
Lingcod fillets
$20-$23/lb
Yellowtail rockfish fillets
$13-$16/lb
Halibut collars
$10-$13/lb
Sablefish collars
$8-$11/lb
Lingcod cheeks
$28-$31/lb
Tuna
Our albacore tuna is flash-frozen at sea to ensure it is sushi-grade. We carry both full and ½ loins which range in weight between a little over 1 lb and a ½ lb. We also offer thin sliced cold smoked tuna lox in 100g packages and three types of canned products – regular, no salt and smoked tuna varieties. Unlike some other tuna species, albacore is a smaller species which is low in mercury which makes it safe to eat more frequently!
2023 prices are shown here. Prices do fluctuate each year. Higher price ranges reflect the inclusion of shipping costs for locations outside of Metro Vancouver.
Albacore tuna is caught between the months of June and September but we aim to keep it in stock year-round.
PRODUCT
SEASON
Albacore tuna
JUL AUG
PRODUCT
PRICE
Albacore tuna loins
$24-$27/lb
Sliced cold smoked albacore tuna
$9-$10 per 100g package
Canned albacore tuna
$7-$9 per can
Prawns
Our wild, flash-frozen spot prawn tails are special – even as spot prawns go. These prawns are caught live, quickly tailed and packed into 6 oz or 1 lb tubs aboard the boat, topped up with sea water, then frozen at sea to capture their just-caught freshness and negate the need for any preservatives. Our tubs of spot prawn tails are easy to thaw in minutes and perfect for your favourite shrimp or prawn recipes.
2023 prices are shown here. Prices do fluctuate each year. Higher price ranges reflect the inclusion of shipping costs for locations outside of Metro Vancouver.