A LOCAL smoked salmon business has shut down this year but is hoping to be able to reopen next year.
River Wild Salmon, which opened its doors at a Thornhill location in 2011, sold smoked wild sockeye caught from the Skeena River by fisheries that follow ethical and sustainable standards.
It shut down its operations this summer after being unable to purchase any fish at all, says president Harald Kossler.
“Well there was no commercial fishery this year at all because the returns were very [poor]. And with our standards for sustainability and ethical, we were not able to purchase any fish at all. So we were forced to close,” said Kossler.
“I only can hope that this was an exceptional year and it will be better fishing for the future.”
It’s still too soon to say that if the number of returning fish warrants a commercial fishery next year and whether River Wild will then be able to re-open, he added.
“This is not clear at this point,” said Kossler.
“Time will tell. Please don’t forget we are very limited with fish sourcing due to our sustainability and ethical standards.”
The Kossler family and major North American clothing and equipment retailer Patagonia spent $3 million leading up to the 2011 opening of River Wild Salmon.
Patagonia had been selling the product at its stores.
Also involved in connecting the River Wild Salmon business with suppliers was Skeena Wild Salmon Conservation Trust, a local non-profit, which monitors salmon stocks in the Skeena river and its tributaries, to vouch that it uses salmon fished responsibly.