Site Navigation:

Site Search:

Looking for more? Search for Articles on the Nauticapedia Site.

Fish Traps on the British Columbia Coast

by John MacFarlane 2017

Fishtrap

The Fish Trap at Sooke BC with the tug J.W.P. and the tender Olive M berthed alongside. (Photo from the Doug MacFarlane collection. )

Huge fish traps modelled on the principal of the relatively modest First Nations traps were established on Vancouver Island and the mainland. This was a cheaper and harvesting approach than sending boats and crews to sea with equipment and operating costs. They were based on exclusive licences operated with small crews and producing large profit returns. The Bell–Irving family also established a trap at Point Roberts. By 1896 there were 19 traps on the US side of Boundary Bay and two on the Canadian side. The catching ability of the traps exceeded the ability to process the fish.

The traps at Sooke were constructed by the Sooke Harbour Fishing and Packing Co. about 1918 at Otter Point. The halibut schooner Harriet E. was the tender and carried the fish from the traps to Victoria. This company maintained four traps at Beecher Bay, Otter Point, Point–No–Point and Boulder Point.

Concern about conservation of salmon stocks was a theme that arose early in the life of the organized fishing industry. The efficiency in harvesting was increasing, and habitat was decreasing. Fishermen’s organizations persistently asked for fish traps to be closed and for regulation of seine gear. This was analyzed by a Royal Commission in 1940 but the elimination of traps was rejected. The USA banned traps in 1935.

There was a fish trap at Sooke operated by Sooke Harbour Fishing & Packing Co. My cousin and Sooke resident Douglas MacFarlane worked on the pile driving at the trap. Once that work was completed he got a job as Second Watchman and then as Head Watchman, a position he held for 5 years.


To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John M. (2017) Fish Traps on the British Columbia Coast. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Fishtraps.php

Nauticapedia

Site News: November 11, 2024

The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 94,563 vessel histories (with 16,156 images and 13,889 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters).

The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,599 entries (with 3995 images). Vessel records are currently being reviewed and updated with more than 40,000 processed so far this year.

Thanks to contributor Mike Rydqvist McCammon for the hundreds of photos he has contributed to illustrate British Columbia's floating heritage.

My very special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.

Also my special thanks to my volunteer content accuracy checker, John Spivey of Irvine CA USA, who continues (almost every day for the last couple of years) to proof read thousands of Nauticapedia vessel histories and provided input to improve more than 14,000 entries. His attention to detail has been a huge unexpected bonus in improving and updating the vessel detail content.

© 2002-2023