Sam Salmon

What you're talking about is called Fishing Down the Food Chain and is indeed a serious problem-one some deny even exists. No Hocus Pocus at all but a scientifically accepted technique to rebuild the nutrient base. The Ferry across Arrow Lake for instance has been used to dribble fertiliser into that cold barren water, helicopters above Chilco Lake spread fertiliser to help Sockeye smolts, coastal streams have 'drips' that slowly release nutrient-there are many other examples.

The twist to this story is that lately there has developed a winter fishery for Wild Spring (Chinook) Salmon. Salmon trollers-their ranks devastated by years of marginal catches and cut throat competition from Salmon farmers which has driven prices to all time lows-have started to fish in winter-a desperate undertaking off the west coast of BC and Alaska as you might imagine. The prices they receive are excellent partly because of the novelty of fresh Salmon at that time and also because winter Spring Salmon are even more delicious. Unethical operators in the fish business have then piggybacked on the success of these brave even foolhardy souls and sold their farmed slugs as 'wild' to a largely ignorant and unsuspecting public. So it is possible to buy fresh Wild Salmon in winter but the supply is tiny and bound to be expensive.

In the past here I've posted a few times about farmed Salmon provenance being misrepresented in the marketplace-this is another gem that highlights PT Barnum's old saying. Stores Say Wild Salmon, but Tests Say Farm Bred By MARIAN BURROS Published: April 10, 2005 Fresh wild salmon from West Coast waters used to have a low profile in New York: it generally migrated eastward in cans. But a growing concern about the safety of farm-raised fish has given fresh wild salmon cachet. It has become the darling of chefs, who praise its texture and flavor as superior to the fatty, neutral-tasting farmed variety, and many shoppers are willing to pay far more for it than for farmed salmon. Today, "fresh wild salmon" is abundant, even in the winter when little of it is caught. In fact, it seems a little too abundant to be true. Tests performed for The New York Times in March on salmon sold as wild by eight New York City stores, going for as much as $29 a pound, showed that the fish at six of the eight were farm raised. Click Here for the rest of the article

Lower end places often feature farmed Salmon-Chinese/Korean run Sushi Bars especially. The Asian Pacific Post constantly has adds/articles promoting farmed Salmon-scroll down the page.

It's good to see the genuine concern about our aquatic resources as expressed by the thoughtful and well informed posters here-with one exception which I'll deal with in a moment. First off it's been a long damp day-been Salmon fishin' all day long rain & shine! A rare Sunday off found me and 2 friends trolling local waters for feeder Spring Salmon. Did you know it's been one of the best Winter Spring Salmon fisheries in years locally?Probably not unless you know someone like me and definitely not if you read local rags. Anyway we caught/released a dozen fish-only 2 legal size (60cm) and lost a few others as well as the usual bites but no hookups.The reason I mention this is because the Salmon fishery in BC-let's concentrate on Salmon for the moment-is diverse and complex.There exist problems in some places with some stocks but the seas are not dying and some areas have had and continue to have record returns. The Fraser Sockeye fishery-close to the hearts of many-seems to be caught between changes caused by global warming (low snow pack/little runoff and high temperatures in natal rivers) and good old fashioned human greed/mismanagement and stupidity. However estimates for this year-as taken from the DFO/FOC site are encouraging "Total estimated run size for 2005 Fraser River Sockeye Probability of 50% it will exceed 12.5 million Probability of 75% it will exceed 8.6 million Probability of 90% it will exceed 6.2 million From historic numbers, the average run size for this cycle is 14.1 million. The bulk of the run is of course the summer run, which usually arrives during the first two weeks of August. Its size is around 5.7 million at 90% probability." It may be that with conditions as they have been this run will be severely impacted-or not-no need to cry wolf just yet and no need to cry in our beer about 2008 either. Note that estimate is just Sockeye- "For Pinks Average run size is at 11.5 million. This year, there is a 90% chance the run size will exceed 8.4 million." Imagine the wealth we have! What a fabulous place this is to live in! Last year I was @ Milbanke Sound-near Bella Bella-Salmon were so thick even someone like me with 30+ years experience in the fishery could hardly believe what I experienced.Orcas openly feeding 150 feet away while I caught Coho after Coho after Coho almost at will-Spring Salmon to 30 pounds every day.Bottomfish so numerous it took me just under an hour to catch 8 prime specimens-Lingcod/Yelloweye/Vermillion Rockfish huge fat and healthy. People-you know my sometimes lugubrious posts here-would I be waxing lyrical if I thought there was any reason not to?(note that I never drink alcohol while fishing so am not PWD). As mentioned newspapers feed on bad news-when truly desperate they play on people's fear of the future-a tactic that is beneath contempt. Groundfish stocks-again in some places mismanagement by Fisheries Canada has led to some areas-like the Strait of Georgia-with plummeting populations.This is a result of political decisions by bureaucrats-DFO scientists have warned of this for years and were ignored. However 'Outside' stocks remain healthy and a new commitment to Conservation has led to some Marine Reserves being declared-how they'll be managed remains to be seen-I'm somewhat optimistic. Salmon Aquaculture-so many salient points-I can only add that I have never met a fish farm employee who would ever eat the product he was paid to raise-and I know dozens of them. Ocean Wise-ran across a reference to this initiative a while back-glad to see it getting some press-it's great idea One poster here-one 'HKDave' -attempts to inject a note of fear and proposes that we accept the end of wild seafood and settle for the substandard mush he's touted in the past.Ignore him/his blandishments/misinformation which he's spouted on the site in the past.

I'm reminded of a restaurant on Broadway that insisted that potatoes be eaten 'firm' which to Canadians means 'half raw'. The Chef was adamant that all the people sending back their meals were in the wrong and he was right. Note that it was on Broadway-an old story-opened with a bang, slunk away in the night with a whimper and a whine.

Life is Hard

Well as I recall 'back in the day' it was the first of the now common Bakery Cafes. As to Gas Station Sushi it's a good thing I was only driving a bicycle not my truck when first I saw that sign. It didn't compute at all and my attention was seriously diverted.

You may have noticed that some Bread Garden franchises have been sold off by the old Corporate owner-which I think was Spectra foods. Anyway the old original BG down by my place (1st & Cypress) has changed a number of features under new ownership. The saddest part of these poorly conceived changes is selling Muffins that have been made days in advance, frozen and then thawed to be sold as 'fresh'. Not just that they've boosted the price too! LOL!! The new owner must not realise that their apparent shortcut will cost them customers-somebody somewhere has miscalculated. Upon inquiring of a Staff member @ Ist & Cypress this AM about the change I was told "they were always done this way". That may be true for as long as that individual has worked there but the BG @ Granville & 14 (still corporate owned AFAIK) still does things the old fashioned way-if I'm there just after 0600 hrs I get fresh made warm Banana Chocolate Chip just as I have for years.

As regards the busses issue I'd love to hear what Merchants on the Island think-both those in the Market and other retailers/restaurateurs.

Tried Green Ginger for lunch on the weekend 2967 W. Broadway. Less that 10 seats so I suppose that qualifies as a H-i-t-W. Very veggie very well done. Best Lentil soup I've ever tasted and let's be frank-WTH can a person say about Lentil soup-this stuff was fabulous. The Mandalay Curry wrap was a little underwhelming but the Chai was delicious-smoky and mysterious with a tiny bite at the end-must be white Pepper I suppose. Well worth a quick stop if you're in that 'hood.

Ron C-there's thread I started here about Farmed Atlantics being marketed as 'Wild' even in BC where I live. Since you live 'far from the action' I'll repeat myself on this issue. Salmon farms blanket the coast in many place here in BC-I know many people in small coastal communities who work on them.I have never ever met anyone who would eat the product they are paid to raise. Food for thought for those of you who are thinking folks.

Matouk's is a standard sauce-they have a few variations on the theme-I can think of Calypso as well. In Trinidad itself Matouk's isn't all that popular-I saw many small almost homemade sauces on restaurant table/for sale. As to One thing they never mentioned during that Tour was that Tobasco Peppers suffer from Tobacco Mosaic disease and aren't produced in any great quantity in any one place for very long without the disease reappearing. So the production has shifted from place to place-last I checked it was Honduras but Tobacco Mosaic had appeared there to so who knows where the Peppers are coming from now-not Louisiana I can tell you that.

FYI-China has about 200 miles of coastline where the right sort of rivers for Salmon to propagate are found-whether or not they still have Salmon in them I have no idea. Given-as Peter Mathiessen once wrote-"the Chinese leadership's chilling indifference to the natural world"-I doubt it. In any case the post below is almost certainly correct since Siberia lacks much of the industrial infrastructure of China China is the world's largest Aquaculture market and probably the largest producer as well.We see some of that here-soggy Scallops, odd unidentifiable Fish Sausages and some Surimi products. It's certainly an education to see the different views from people who live in the USA.Here in Vancouver 30+% of the population is Chinese and food products from China dominate the shelves in many food stores-not just 'ethnic groceries' either. That being said my familiarity with food products from China makes me more than a little wary of blandishments as posted below. As always Click Here For Farmed Salmon Info

The fishermen all have quotas. They are allowed from early March to whenever to fill that quota and each boat (business) makes their own decisions on when to go/what to put on the market. This is much safer for the Fishermen-who used to have only a few weeks to fill their quota and sometimes overloaded their boats in frightening weather trying to make money-and better for we consumers because we have fresh fish for 6 months of the year. As always beware less than scrupulous retailers offering Halibut from last year-easily recognised by it's tired look and brown edges from being frozen.

Best price I've seen to date $7.97/lb @ T&T in Chinatown. Gorgeous stuff almost translucent flesh sweet very very fresh. Thanks to the Halibut Longliners who risk their lives up in Hecate Strait or Queen Charlotte Sound to bring us this treasure.

That wine place on 1st Ave across from the Bread Garden has it-I saw it there not an hour ago. I too enjoy the mag very much and wish them 'All the Best!'

LMAO!!! I believe in colloquial terms that site would be called BRUTAL. How about this little gem- "the saltlik is a renasent steakhouse that speaks to the casual market of our times" No doubt they mean 'renascent' which is defined as "surging or sweeping back again". Still doesn't make much sense but maybe eating all that Alberta Beast don't do a person much good after all.

http://www.lostsailor.ca no fireplace though

Mains were $10-15 as I recall.

Like many here there are always places on my list that I never seem to get to. However time and circumstance have led me to try Nyala 2930 4th Avenue West - (604) 731-7899 and House of Selassie 2145 Granville Street (604) 736-2145 within the space of a week-thus this somewhat uncharacteristic report. First to Nyala a long established west side place painted in Ethiopia's national colours. The room is informal and welcoming if somewhat worn-the sensuous music snaking out of the speakers in the back does however set a tone. Prices are very reasonable and the food is a melange of Ethiopian stews/salads serves on a 'platter' of Injera-the national bread. Unfortunately the bread was the best feature of Nyala the night I was there-the stews-2 veggies dishes-were undistinguished at best. Berbere-the distinctive red sauce-with fried Chickpea flour nuggets therein was forgettable and the Spinach/Onion dish tasted oddly of fish. The salads served on the same plate were for the most part tasteless-I mean who ever heard of tasteless Beets but believe me it can be done I have had them. This place seems to function on a 'beginner' level and it's hard for me to imagine circumstances that would cause me to ever return. House of Selassie I'm Happy to say is a treat, a triumph and a terrific way to introduce yourself to Ethiopia's complex and beguiling cuisine. The room is plain the welcome warm and heartfelt and the music is rootsy-the owners formerly ran the legendary Lalibela (and therein lies a tale). Again I had a Veggie Special but what a world of difference! Spinach simmered in spices sublime, Berbere so smooth red and succulent, Lentils & Pulses cooked with a light and charming touch, Tomato and Lettuce Salad had a dressing that tasted of an afternoon outdoors. There were so many different items on my plate I've forgotten a number-I'll be back there for certain to familiarize myself with this unique restaurant, it's charming hosts and ambrosial food.

As to the Afghan Horseman I first ate there lo almost 3 decades ago. Their food was unique and tasty-a bit like Greek was all I could have said about it at the time. Then over the years the bread turned to whole wheat , someone started to pour cheap oil on the Humus and the crisp lively flavours were lost in a haze of fried this and microwaved that. I've since heard that a new generation has sparked up the cooking but I'm looking for a number of positive reports before I try it again. I'm also puzzled by the references to 'Persian food. I know a number of Iranians and they tell me to call oneself 'Persian' in Iran is to invite mockery and worse.

Did the locals mind that you were a tourist? ← In Benito Juarez I was the only tourist I ever saw and the vendors ignored me unless I adressed them directly-except in the food stalls.It's common to be hailed to try a certain trademark dishes-a good way to learn who's cooking what. The Indian Market in Patzcuaro is a quiet orderly afffair all around with lots of space-very informal and few outside visitors. In Medellin gringo tourists are rare as popes*** and apart from a few startled stares no one took any notice of me. The only city produce market I've felt uncomfortable in was the Mercado Central in San Jose Costa Rica. The 'waddling hordes' have invaded the place and now frosty stares, jostling, short changing and worse are rampant.

I wonder do any of you long time GI going folk remember when the Wolf People used to bring a real Wolf down on Saturdays? It was in the mid 80's and there were protests across the country about the northern BC Wolf kill.This group would bring a live Wolf down with a bunch of his Husky dog brethren, the animals would lie in a heap just in front of La Patisserie and the group would hand out pamphlets. A far cry from the waddling hordes who today buy an airbrushed Wolf head t-shirt to commemorate their visit to the wilderness of Stanley Park Tat Indeed! I agree about the Buskers as well-some of the worst excuses for entertainment ever are to be found on GI.Banning any electric amplification of sound would be a start. As to local produce it's sad to see the paltry turnout for the GI Thursday Truck Market but I suppose that events like the Nat Bailey and Trout Creek Markets have thinned the talent pool. In a way I suppose I am spoiled-having lived in Mexico with it's fabulous markets-Mercado Benito Juarez in Oaxaca city , the Saturday market in Patzcuaro , visiting beautiful Medellin in Colombia last year with is stunning setting and endless staggering variety of locally produced fruits, veggie and flowers does make what we have seem a tad anemic.

One idea that's been bandied about is banning tour buses altogether-anyone who wanted to visit GI could do so in the same fashion residents do.As mentioned by Kayaksoup the average 'tour bus bound' market visitor seems to contribute little but carbon dioxide. Again my personal history with the Island is such that I remember the promises made when it opened-that it wouldn't be covered with stores selling mass produced goods for the tourist trade. Well it isn't covered but they are there and it appears there are more of them every year.As well I've seen the mix of goods in long time stores change-not for the better. When was the last time you spent an hour walking the Island without going in the Market Jamie? Returning to the Market I too have noted the absence of some long time day vendors-people who had quality hand made goods who are now nowhere to be found. I also note that on Travel Boards across the net-notably Fodors-the first complaints of GI being 'too touristy' are starting to appear.Not a lot of them and No I didn't put them up.Someone somewhere should be alarmed though. The proof that they aren't alarmed is contained in the frustrated almost angry tone in the post by the redoubtable Daddy-A.Once customers like him have been 'put off they ain't a comin' back-no way no how. I'll always be around on my bike-I could have stopped this aft in fact.But the money that I used to spend in GIM now rests in tills in Chinatown and W. Broadway and will for the foreseeable future.