From sashimi to smoked salmon, British Columbia is home to some of the best seafood in the world. But with frequent reports that up to 50% of seafood is mislabeled in stores and restaurants, it’s hard to make sure your seafood is truly what it claims to be. This is true even for the best-intentioned seafood stores, which often buy seafood through distributors.

The Skipper Otto community supports fishing

Skipper Otto is a community-supported fishery that has grown rapidly over the past 10 years. With Skipper Otto, home chefs across the Lower Mainland (and beyond) pre-purchase a year’s share of the catch from approximately 30 different B.C. fishing families. This commitment allows the fishing families to earn a living wage, guarantees a market for their Ocean Wise catch, and provides high quality, hyper-traceable seafood directly to anyone smart enough to join before they stop accepting new members at the end of May each year.

Vancouver farmers’ markets

Although Vancouver’s farmers markets are mostly for produce, there are a few seafood vendors that can be reliably found. Blue Comet Seafood has been at the market since 2005 and offers a selection of all five types of salmon, lingcod, tuna, halibut, and sablefish, as well as smoked and canned goods. This family-owned company sells the catch from its three vessels that fish along the coast of British Columbia in the Haida Gwaii, Nass, Skeena, Bella Coola, Johnston Strait and Barkley Sound areas.

Steveston Public Fish Market

Another place where local fishermen dock and sell their daily catch! The Steveston Public Marketplace has the largest local collection of fishermen selling fish directly from their boats. It’s a great place to buy whole fish (frozen fish is available year-round), but keep in mind that fishermen are not allowed to sell processed (i.e. steaks, fillets, smoked, vacuum-sealed, etc.) products on the marketplace, nor are they allowed to sell any bivalves (oysters, clams, mussels, etc.). Although the public fish selling point is always open, vessels and sellers come and go as they please. The best days of the week to find them are Saturday and Sunday during normal business hours.

Falls Creek Fishing Pier

The Falls Creek Fisherman’s Wharf, smaller than Steveston but conveniently located for many Vancouver residents, also has a fish sale outlet. This sales course is usually only active at certain times of the year, and the May shrimp season is the best time to get shrimp right off the boat. During salmon season, you can sometimes find whole fresh sockeye salmon on sale. The Falls Creek Fisherman’s Wharf is the main location for Skipper Otto’s, and they are there almost every Thursday evening year-round and Saturday morning in the summer.