Explore the ups and downs of BC's salmon canning industry. Use the filter to investigate themes including technology, environment, social changes, and global events.
From the late 1880s to early 1900s typhoid fever is common in Steveston and is linked to the disposal of fish waste (offal) from canneries. The Japanese community responds by building the Japanese Hospital in Steveston.
Japanese Hospital, Steveston, BC. Image 1978 14 10 courtesy of the City of Richmond Archives.
In 1889 the federal government decreases the number of fishing licenses in an attempt to reduce over-fishing. Some cannery owners build dummy canneries to obtain additional fishing licenses.
Dumfries Cannery on the Fraser River, c. 1890s, Image CVA 256-02-.10 courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives
Some of the first regulations in the fishing industry come from the Wilmot Commissions of 1890 and 1892. Government investigator Samuel Wilmot's extensive inquiries result in recommendations on boat and cannery limits, annual closures, and fishing net size. Before regulations were placed on the fishing industry, there were often hundreds of boats on the Fraser River at a time.
Fishing skiffs at the mouth of the Fraser River c. 1890s Image B-07395 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum and Archives
1913 is a dominant year of the sockeye salmon’s four-year cycle and more sockeye salmon return to the Fraser River than previously recorded. The huge run results in a commercial pack of 2,392,895 cases of canned salmon.
Salmon awaiting processing at a Fraser River cannery, 1913. Image E-05031 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum and Archives
Rock slide at Hells Gate 1914. Image A-04680 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum and Archives
Blasting to create the Canadian Northern (later the Canadian National) Railway line through the Fraser Canyon causes landslides at Hells Gate partially blocking the river and causing millions of returning salmon to die before spawning.
Learn Moreabout Hells Gate SlideIn 1918 a fire burns much of Steveston village from No 1 Road to No. 3 Road. The fire destroys three canneries, several residences and hotels, and good part of the retail district.
Charred pilings of the Lighthouse, Steveston and Star Canneries after the fire of 1918, with the Gulf of Georgia Cannery in the background. Image 1971-1-242 courtesy City of Richmond Archives
The first formal salmon agreement between Canada and the United States is a convention for the protection, preservation and extension of the sockeye salmon fishery of the Fraser River system signed in 1930 and ratified in 1937.
The original members of the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission. From left to right: Edward W. Allen, William A. Found, A. J. Whitmore, B. M. Brennan, T. Reid, A. L. Hager, Charles E. Jackson. Image courtesy of Pacific Salmon Commission
Cement ladders are built to make it easier for salmon to pass the narrowest section of the Fraser River. The ladders reduce the speed of the current within the structures making it easier for spawning salmon to reach their spawning grounds.
Construction of fish ladder at Hells Gate. City of Richmond Archives 2001-34-9-672
Already in decline, the canneries on the Skeena River are impacted when a natural rockslide blocks the Babine River in 1951. The rockslide is discovered too late to clear before the arrival of the Sockeye salmon on this important tributary to the Skeena River. An estimated two-thirds of the year's sockeye runs are lost.
Aerial view of Babine slide, 1951. Image 199003-004 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum and Archives
An agreement is forged between Japan, the United States, and Canada to manage Pacific Salmon fish stocks in their respective countries.
Newspaper clipping showing government officials from Japan, Canada and the U.S.A. negotiating the Tripartite agreement in 1953. Gulf of Georgia Cannery Society Archives (from the Fisherman Newspaper).
The International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission conducts studies of fish spawning success rates at its Quesnel Field Station in the early 1950’s. The Canadian Department of Fisheries builds the first artificial spawning channel in 1954 at Jones Creek for pink salmon. Five sockeye spawning channels are built between 1963 and 1973 at Pitt River, Seton Creek, Weaver Creek, Gates Creek and the Nadina River.
Weaver Creek spawning channel, PSF.org
In 1985, Canada and the United States sign the Pacific Salmon Treaty. The agreement provides a framework for the two countries to work together to manage Pacific salmon. It outlines ways to share the resource, prevent over-fishing, and ensure that both countries profit from the industry. The Pacific Salmon Treaty is the first comprehensive treaty between Canada and the United States that includes all 5 species of pacific salmon. The treaty establishes a Pacific Salmon Commission. The commission is made up of members from both Canada and the US and continues to be an important way for the two countries to communicate and cooperate.
Pacific Salmon Commission logo