Committed to Nature.
Committed to Nature.
Creative Salmon is proud to raise organic Pacific Chinook (King) salmon in the waters of Clayoquot Sound in the traditional territory of the Tla‑o‑qui‑aht First Nation.
Creative Salmon is proud to raise organic Pacific Chinook (King) salmon in the waters of Clayoquot Sound in the traditional territory of the Tla‑o‑qui‑aht First Nation.
Founded in 1990 by a group of investors committed to raising Chinook salmon, Creative quickly shifted to doing things differently:
- NO GMOs
- NO antibiotics
- Natural diet sources from Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) compliant fisheries
- Low-density environment (more than twice the room for fish to move and grow than a conventional farm environment)
Vertical integration — from egg to plate — is a big part of Creative’s success. We produce our own broodstock and smolts, raise and harvest the fish, and process them in a plant located right on the dock in Tofino.
Commitment to Tla‑o‑qui‑aht First Nation
Creative Salmon operates in the traditional territory of the Tla‑o‑qui‑aht First Nation.
In July 2014, after two decades of relationship building and cooperative effort, Creative finalized a protocol agreement which established guiding principles for our Chinook salmon farming operations within the Haahuulthii (traditional territory) of the Tla‑o‑qui‑aht Hawiih (Chiefs) near Tofino, BC.
Read: Creative Salmon and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation sign protocol agreement.
Environmental
Accountability
It’s possible for a salmon farm to be environmentally responsible AND operate on a sustainable scale. At Creative Salmon, we consider the environment in everything we do, and we make these choices even though it means there is extra work and costs involved.
Environmental Monitoring & Responsible Practices
Years ago, Creative Salmon was the first salmon farmer on Canada’s West Coast to implement an environmental-monitoring plan, even before it was mandated by government. In fact, one of our farm sites was selected as an intensive research site to help develop new performance-based standards for the management of salmon farms in BC.
We monitor our fish through underwater cameras – and we were one of the first companies to do so. Every fish pen is monitored during every meal by skilled staff. This ensures that feed use is optimized and the fish are fed properly.
We follow a site fallowing plan to minimize our environmental impact, meaning that we only operate four of our six farm sites at any one time. This allows us to rotate between sites and to fallow them for up to several years. Even active sites have fallow periods of up to 3 or 4 months between stockings. The fallowing plan is guided by the results of our environmental monitoring program as well as site conditions, and allows the sea floor to return to its natural condition.
We clean and maintain our sites without using any harsh chemicals or net antifoulants. We clean our nets by power washing them with sea water, or by exposing them to natural ultraviolet (i.e., sunshine!).
Contributing to
Our Communities
At Creative Salmon, we believe that being a local business means playing an integral part in the communities that surround us. We participate in events and activities in and around Clayoquot Sound – sponsoring local teams, supporting school activities, cooking salmon for special events, and giving financial support to local agencies.
Creative is also committed to making it easy for local people – from the communities of Tofino, Ucluelet, Esowista, Ty‑Histanis and Opitsaht – to work for us. We practice day-shifting, bringing staff to and from the farm sites every day, rather than having them live there for days at a time, so that they can be with their families every evening and have a more “regular” schedule.
