Skipper Otto's Community Supported Fishery

Welcome to Port Edward, a small community just ten miles to the south of Prince Rupert; we’re here to drop off Otto’s chum net and pick up his sockeye net; hopefully, while we’re here we’ll also manage to get some ice for his fish holds and arrange for transportation for this week’s catch down to Vancouver. It seems that the guys that Otto used last year for both ice and transport either aren’t in business this year or haven’t set up shop yet, so Otto and Terry reached out through their fishing friends for leads and suggestions. Fortunately we’ve managed to find both, so our catch in a few days will be shipped down promptly assuming we’re able to get from the fishing grounds to Port Edward by 10:00AM on Wednesday morning. Eminently doable, if we leave around 4:00AM.

(I thought salmon boats ran on diesel, but it turns out they actually run on coffee.)

The real highlight of Port Edward, however, are the shower facilities that we have the opportunity to take advantage of here; they might be drafty, scummy and coin-operated, but it’ll be a heck of a lot easier than trying to wash my armpits in a sink. The showers take loonies, of which we’ve each managed to scrounge a few. Unfortunately, when your time runs out, there’s no advance warning. Suddenly, the hot water shuts off leaving you with a sudden burst of cold to try and a frantic rush through rinsing the rest of the soap off. Why can’t every shower have this associated sense of adventure?

With no need to hurry as the fishing doesn’t start until Monday, we’ll be spending tonight here before heading to Prince Rupert tomorrow to get fuel and spend a couple of town days to renew our food supply.

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During the trip, you can either check this blog for the latest entries, or you can go to this interactive map of all the blog posts related to this trip. You can also find photos from the trip on Flickr.

We’ve just arrived for the evening in a little Native village (population: about 200) named Hartley Bay; we’re now only 80 nautical miles from Prince Rupert and are planning to get away early in the morning to make it to Port Edward (just south of Prince Rupert) by early afternoon so that Otto can drop off his Chum net and pick up his Sockeye net and take care of a few errands before continuing on to Rupert.

(Sockeye and Chum are different sized salmon and so require a different sized gillnet. Also, the sockeye fishery is earlier and so Otto was able to store that net up north before continuing to fish with his chum net further south at the end of last season.)

Hartley Bay’s big claim to fame is that it was the community that came out to help the survivors from the sinking of the Queen of the North, the BC Ferry that hit nearby Gil Island and sank. In this tiny community there’s a longhouse, a school, a community centre, a fish hatchery and fifty or so houses to go along with the small wharf. All of these are connected by a series of raised wooden boardwalks that go right to each building’s front door. Also, there’s no need for cars in a place like this; instead, everyone drives ATVs around.

Much smaller than Bella Bella or Klemtu, this community is unexpectedly central to Otto and his fishing companions. On the dock, we met up with old friends Juggie and Charlie and there was a quick exchange of information often called “dock talk”.

Listening to their banter one could quickly get a sense of how the fishing season was going. The Barkley Sound openings (which CSF members have already recieved some fresh salmon from) were noted as being quite productive, with larger than usual fish coming in so far. Also, word from the north (where we’re headed) is that the Nass River fishery is also doing well; decent amounts of fish were being caught earlier in the week in the area’s first opening and the next opening (which will be Otto’s first of the season) has already been announced as a two-day opening. This is a good sign that this may be a productive year, since these openings are typically only a single day.Time to head to bed; we’ve got an early start in the morning… about 5:00AM if Terry has his way.

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During the trip, you can either check this blog for the latest entries, or you can go to this interactive map of all the blog posts related to this trip. You can also find photos from the trip on Flickr.

We’ve just ducked quickly behind a small island so that Otto can show me the First Nations community of Klemtu; if you didn’t have a navigational chart to direct you, you could easily miss it given how well-protected it is. It’s not a large community, maybe 500-800 people, but is served by BC Ferries and so has an impressive ferry dock and a few roads. (Which must lead to nowhere, because there are no other communities on the island.)

There are a number of small communities like this one spread throughout the mid-coast; add in all the inhabited lighthouses, swanky fishing camps, logging operations and boat traffic and you quickly realize that this is a far less desolate place than it seems. As Namu showed us, though, there was once a great deal more activity on this coast than there is today. Improved engine and refrigeration technology means boats can travel a longer distance to a cannery or processing plant and that means less need for many of these small but interesting places.

For all that I’m getting to see on this trip; there’s so much more around the corner, hidden away. I could spend a lifetime just exploring this place.

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During the trip, you can either check this blog for the latest entries, or you can go to this interactive map of all the blog posts related to this trip. You can also find photos from the trip on Flickr.

It’s hard to convey, in words or even in pictures, just how breathtaking this trip is. The size and scope of the geography, the ingenuity and determination of those that live and work in its most obscure places, and the unexpected relics left behind–they all defy description.

When Otto heard that I had a family connection with a little village called Namu that we passed today, he offered to duck the boat into the harbor to let me take a closer look. In its heyday, Namu was a thriving community with a big cannery and all the amenities you’d want in a small town: movie theatre, laundromat, bowling alley, liquor store and more. There were sizable Japanese and Native communities here, as well, with their own “villages” connected to Namu. At its busiest, the cannery was operating 24 hours a day in three shifts, processing tons and tons of fish. My grandfather spent a couple of years working in the cannery here.

As the fishing industry changed and centralized, and as once-bountiful stocks became depleted, Namu was all but abandoned. As you can see from these images, the years and the climate have not been kind to the structures at Namu; there’s now a newer float-home that was towed in, but almost everything else looks completely derelict and unsafe. It’s really too bad; it would’ve been an amazing place to see in its prime.

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During the trip, you can either check this blog for the latest entries, or you can go to this interactive map of all the blog posts related to this trip. You can also find photos from the trip on Flickr.

Another restful sleep on the boat; even thought I’m not doing much physically, the trip itself seems kind-of exhausting. Otto assures me this is because of the constant drone of the engine as well as the movement of the boat. To keep yourself level with the horizon as the boat rocks back and forth uses your core muscles more than one would expect. Even though I’m just sitting, watching and eating, I might actually lose weight on this trip.

Speaking of eating, food is pretty basic on the Eldorado. There’s a very small fridge (smaller even than a bar fridge) and a propane stove/oven with only two elements. Since I’d like to be more than just a tourist on the boat, I’ve taken on most of the cooking duties. In the short term, anyway, it’s kind of fun to improvise with the very limited supplies available. Maybe that’s the next cooking show the Food Network needs to broadcast… “Working Food: How to make a delicious, nutritious meal with few supplies in a tiny kitchen as everything slides everywhere.” I think it’d be a hit.

Once Otto gets back from walking Boris, we’ll head over to the fuel dock and turn on the weather forecast; if today is going to be like yesterday afternoon, we’ll probably wait it out in Port Hardy and try again tomorrow. I posted something on Facebook about the possibility of “running amok” in Port Hardy if we had the day off but was quickly reminded that on northern Vancouver Island one should obey local custom and “walk amok”; to do otherwise would definitely make me seem like a tourist.

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During the trip, you can either check this blog for the latest entries, or you can go to this interactive map of all the blog posts related to this trip. You can also find photos from the trip on Flickr.