Pink salmon returns are an all-time high this year, and coho and chinook are returning in high numbers too.

The total biomass of salmon returning is higher than it’s been in years, despite the very low sockeye returns which are the lowest they’ve been in more than half a century. There has been an outright fishing ban on Skeena and Fraser River sockeye.

The high return numbers of Coho are a welcome surprise – their numbers have been very low for years, with very few commercial coho fishery openings. The high number of pinks and chinooks (springs) has overwhelmed processing plants who don’t have the capacity to manage the volume of fish coming in.

We really appreciate the growing awareness around supporting local food systems and all of our members who understand the importance of eating sustainable seafood and not putting too much pressure on depleted species. It is a poor year for sockeye, but there are so many other types of local, wild, northern seafood to enjoy.

We’re having a fresh chinook (spring) salmon pick-up this week, and look forward to more fresh salmon pick-ups and hopefully a live crab pick-up.

For more details on this years salmon returns, check out this Vancouver Sun article