So where the heck is Steveston?

Looking west down Moncton Street.
Nikka Fishing has reinvigorated itself to serve the recreational boating and fishing Community

              So where the heck is Steveston?  Steveston BC is AKA Storybrook Mass. where they film "Once-Upon-a-Time".  They also filmed a lot of "McIvor" there.  Steveston BC was the centre of the sockeye salmon fishery on the Fraser River.  It came into prominence in the 1880’s and saw some boom and bust times over the past century.  I first came to Steveston in the mid-1970’s, first when I was an Aquarist with the Vancouver Public Aquarium and then later in the 1970’s as a field technician and then a biologist with the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission and then the Pacific Salmon Commission.  The fishery for Fraser River sockeye reached a recent historical high with the very large quadrennial return of 1990-1993.  The run had been rebuilding during the 1980’s.  Since 1993, the run has decline and was the subject of several inquiries, including the recent judicial inquiry by Honourable Bruce Cohen.  However there was a record return in 2010.  That’s another and very long story, too long to tell here.

Tie-up at the foot of 4th Ave. looking east.

Looking west down Moncton Street

As the name says...

The venerable Net-shed Cafe, sadly no longer in business.

                BC Packers was the main concern in Steveston up until the early 1990’s. Imperial Plant, Phoenix Plant, Paramount Plant and a couple of other fish packing and canning operations were in full swing when I first started working.  Also, there were (and still is) several large commercial fishing vessel tie-ups in along the water front.  I have a lot of friends still in the industry and I felt most comfortable having my boat there.  First, it’s a freshwater tie-up.  Second I have friends to help me with various problems that might come up.  So what happened to BC Packers?  Well, there was much more money in real estate than in fish packing and canning and the Weston Family sold the land and much of the waterfront into the real estate market.  Its full of expensive homes, condos, town-homes and trendy boutiques, restaurants and shops now.  They have some historical sites under preservation, including the Gulf of Georgia Cannery and the Britannia Shipyards.  We tie-up right beside the Britannia Shipyards.  It’s a very picturesque site right beside the more industrial current fishing vessel tie-up.

Looking SW from our moorage towards the Britannia Shipyards historical site

Looking SW from our moorage.  The land in the distance "Steveston Island" was created by dredging the main Fraser River channel and the "Cannery Channel

Gillnetter passing up Cannery Channel