To the delight of all salmon lovers, the first fresh sockeye salmon of the season is coming soon!
In fact, the first commercial sockeye fishery is scheduled to open on Tuesday, June 16th just north of Prince Rupert, BC as part of the Nass River run providing consumers with some of the best salmon around in the coming days.
Nass River sockeye is especially prized for its succulent lighter flavour with a clean finish and brilliant red flesh. It is expected that this is the start of a good supply of fresh wild BC sockeye available this season coming from a variety of harvest areas in BC. And the highest quality frozen wild BC sockeye should also be available to savour throughout the whole year.
With wild BC spring salmon also already readily available in the domestic market and additional openings for commercial fishing for wild BC spring salmon scheduled next week in northern BC, seafood enthusiasts will be simply delighted! Plus, as harvests for wild BC pink, coho and chum are also already tentatively scheduled, salmon lovers can fully embrace the availability of choice. From delicate and light to rich and full, top quality wild salmon from BC is perfect for every preparation method and palate. And consumers are definitely asking for it by name!
While it is still early and always difficult to predict the results of this year’s season, wild BC salmon enthusiasts naturally want to know what, when and how much of each of the five wild BC salmon species will be available this season. And with our community’s increasing commitment to eating natural and sustainable foods, consumers want to know the status of the industry. The BC Salmon Marketing Council, a non-profit generic marketing organization for wild BC salmon funded by the BC commercial fishermen, is therefore pleased to provide this preliminary information regarding this year’s wild BC salmon season.
Forecasted Availability of Wild BC Salmon this Season

Chinook: Chinook or spring salmon have traditionally been the first salmon to be available in the traditional fresh wild BC salmon season. In recent years, they have been caught and marketed fresh most of the year with some troll vessels immediately freezing their catch on-board to seal in freshness and to ensure that top quality product is available year round. It is expected that the availability of fresh wild BC chinook salmon will continue to be relatively good and steady this salmon season with frozen salmon available throughout the year.

Chum: Chum salmon is usually available later in the traditional fresh salmon season – towards the end of summer and into the fall. This year however, it is expected that the summer chum fisheries may start towards the beginning of July with additional chum fisheries to be scheduled as usual in the fall.
This year it is expected that the fishery will bring a good supply of fresh chum salmon with quality frozen product available during the year.

Coho: Reduced commercial and recreational fishing for coho in 1998 to allow stocks to rebuild has generated positive results and generated a good steady supply of coho in recent years.

This year a relatively good supply of fresh coho is expected with product perhaps first available in the market in early July with some frozen coho to be available throughout the ear.

Pink: Plentiful supplies of fresh pink salmon are usually available in the traditional summer harvest season of July and August. A relatively large return of pink is expected this year with fresh product available during the season and frozen product with locked in freshness available year round.

Sockeye: Sockeye is generally available fresh from June to the end of August and frozen for the remainder of the year. This year, good sockeye runs are expected from various river systems which should provide a steady supply of fresh sockeye during the season starting next week and excellent frozen product throughout the rest of the year.

The BC Salmon Marketing Council is a non-profit generic marketing organization for wild BC salmon funded by the BC commercial fishermen and government sources to: benefit and promote the BC wild salmon industry; conduct research and educational programs for the development and promotion of commercially harvested wild BC salmon, and; communicate to national and international markets the quality, availability and value of wild BC salmon.