How We Catch Salmon

Trollers use hooks and lines with different lures to catch the various salmon species. The lines are spread out on long poles that extend over the side of the boats. The type of lure, the way they are arranged, boat speed, water depth, and the use of on-board electronic systems and most importantly a fishermen’s experience are used to locate and identify salmon, enable trollers to target only the desired species. Caught fish are reeled in one-by-one, often dressed (gills and entrails removed) on-board and iced or quick frozen. Some trollers are equipped to produce top quality FAS (frozen-at-sea) salmon to meet market demand year round.

Trollers harvest all five species of wild BC salmon and account for about 25% of the total commercial harvest.