The item is a reel of industrial film. It depicts the design, construction and operation of the wooden-hulled fish packer "Canfisco", whose launching coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of the Canadian Fishing Company. Includes scenes at the shipyard, in Vancouver harbour, and along the route to the northern end of Vancouver Island, where the company has a floating outpost called "Mills' Bay". Fishing boats transfer their catch to the "Canfisco", which heads back to Vancouver to unload at the company's Gore Road dock and cannery.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Bob Smith RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-01-22 SUMMARY: Bob Smith was born on Lulu Island at Steveston Hwy. Near the golf course in 1906. His father was a fisherman and also worked for Imperial Cannery in the net loft. He started fishing in the Rivers Inlet in 1926 with Wallace Fisheries, as wharfman, then to the Balmoral Cannery on the Skeena River in 1933. Lots of fish in those days. Worked in canneries all over Queen Charlottes, up the Skeena, Canadian Fish and B.C. Packers. Converted a sailboat on the Skeena into a gillnetter with a Chev engine. Took 16 days to come from the Skeena to the Fraser River. Fished with it for 4 or 5 years. Describes the conversion of the sailboat into a gillnetter. Returned to cannery work. Built another boat at Nelson ship yards, a bigger one (31 feet) at the time of the return of the Japanese. Nets these days are more efficient (tape become inaudible). Catches have become smaller, problem of conservation, not enough fish to catch. 12 mile limit is not enough. Long hours fishing in the old days, pulling the net by hand until drums were used. He stays mostly in the river now. Was a union member from the start. Talks of early union organizing difficulties. Talks of Japanese internment, too bad they had to; lose their nets, gradually they returned to the coast. There was not much discrimination between Indians and Japanese and whites. Housing conditions described. Housed were improved in 1926-1927 for Japanese, Indians, and whites. Safety measures improved with union. Bookkeepers were the first-aid men. American Can replaced canning by hand. There's more independence from the canneries now. Fraser River has changed a lot. Pollution affects the fingerlings, especially dog-salmon. Fishing regulations are a help but the fisheries department needs more money for its programs. Salmon enhancement programs have been worthwhile. Buy-back program has not been successful, too many seiners now. Future of fishing is ok if there is more money put into it and the 200 mile limit is enforced.

The fonds consists of films of British Columbia Packers Limited pertaining to herring and salmon fishing, canneries, fish processing, and the whaling industry.

The file consists of five reels of unedited film footage/out-takes. Contains footage of commercial salmon and halibut trolling; purse seining; gill netting; fish ladders (Hells Gate); cannery interiors; tagging salmon; salmon spawning; salmon eggs and fry in laboratory; Adams River salmon run; hatchery scenes. Also includes: aerial views of the B.C. coastline; docks at Zeballos; De Havilland Dragon Rapide passenger plane on floats (registration CF-AYE).
It includes some footage from the film "Commercial salmon trolling off the British Columbia Coast."

Stock shots. 1. Fish boat -- fire, Coast Guard helicopter. 2. Spawning salmon. 3. Fish processing plant. 4. Fish boat. 5. Fish hatchery. 6. Threshing machine. 7. Farm scenes -- cabbages and apples. 8. Lumber mill. 9. Bumper boats; fallers at work. 10. Horse logging. 11. Train on trestle. 12. Premier Bill Bennett wearing hard hat. 13. Helicopter logging. 14. Tree planting. 15. Pulp and paper mill. 16. Canmet, Bells Corners complex. 17. On board ship. 18. Loading newsprint rolls.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Harold Iverson RECORDED: Delta (B.C.), 1976-02-26 SUMMARY: Harold Iverson was born in 1912, the son of a long line of fishermen. Fishing in skiffs at 7 and 8 years old in the river for salmon. At age 16 he got a powerboat, a 5 HP one cylinder engine. Powerboats came in the 1920s, and power winches came in 1938. Fished mostly in the Fraser River until the 1950s, then the off shore Japanese fleet and fishery closures made it necessary to go further a field. Used to fish at San Juan and Queen Charlotte Sound and the Skeena River. As a kid, he remembers the stern-wheelers that used to deliver to farmers up and down the river. Not much farming on River Road, too expensive and too boggy. Came from a family of 6. Long lined halibut for 20 years, trolled and also gillnetted salmon. Changes in fishing and equipment. Lost a 50 ton boat in 100 mph gale in 1970 in Queen Charlotte Sound, and his partner ship came to pick him up in the thick spray. He was wired to the rigging, and had to dive to free himself and then swim to the other boat. His clothes weighed about 100 pounds with water. Just about quit fishing, but changed his mind. Discussion of fish prices. The Americans don't practice conservation, but they take more than their share of the Fraser River salmon. Discusses fishing history, unions, practices and restrictions. At one time there were 40 canneries in the Fraser, but now (1976) there is only one. He fished for the Canadian Fish Co. for 20 years. The Vancouver Co-op worked for a while but it went bankrupt due to people being greedy. Shellfish such as crabs and oysters were ignored until after the War because there was lots of other fish to eat. Discusses the old Union Steamships, they were very comfortable. Discusses canneries. Discussion of wild life around his River Road home. Discussion of the herring fishery and reasons why it depleted before 1971. Wants a Minister of Fisheries from B.C., not back east. Discusses halibut fishing. Fishing in Smiths Inlet. Pollution in water. Rum running during prohibition.

Footage. Footage from an unidentified film. Includes views of Vancouver [and North Vancouver?] from the harbour; many scenes of herring fleet under way; shots of and on board various herring boats (including "Norcrown", "Irana", "Waldero" and "Western Cruiser"); the packer "Norcrest" unloading fish at a cannery on the North Shore; herring in nets and being brailed into hold; seagulls swarming.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Isaac Nelson RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-02-27 SUMMARY: Isaac Nelson's father came from Norway in 1896 to settle in Squamish and then they went to Whonnock, a Scandinavian community. He was born in a boat. Began rowing boats at an early age, 24 foot skiffs. Skiffs were flat bottomed and supplied by the canneries. He started rowing out in the Gulf at age 7. Built his own boat in 1909, a 32 foot skiff, because he was too young to get a cannery boat. His father died when he was one year old, and he lived unhappily with a step-father. Used his skiff for one year then bought a round-bottom boat with a 2 cylinder Easthope. Fished sockeye and springs. Later became a fish buyer for the companies. Bought his own packer; ran company boats up the coast. Then he was a net boss for Nelson Brothers, getting the gear ready for the fishermen. He had eleven children, the oldest was lost in the War. Wife the daughter of Jake Lehman, a pioneer family. He was in the carpentry business and built a couple of sawmills. No relief in those days; if you wanted to eat you had to work. Learned to be a carpenter from his step-father. Lots of canneries on the Fraser at one time, but mechanization has done away with it. He worked at Arndale on the Nass River as carpenter and net boss. Cannery machinery is described. The Iron Chink did away with hundreds of workers. He rebuilt the boat that his father had bought for $10.00. The Lee boys started building round-bottom boats and his job was to blow the dust away from the saw; that's how he learned about boats. He packed fish for B.C. Packers, Nelson Brothers, and he also worked as a net boss. He got along well with the Indian fishermen. There were off-years (poor catches) in the early years because of spring floods. 1913 was a good year. Discussion of the Westminster fire of 1898. He actually saw the fire. He never had trouble getting work during the Depression. Married three times. He plays a tune on his fiddle; he is self-taught.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Murray Dobrilla RECORDED: Ladner (B.C.), 1976-03-26 SUMMARY: Murray Dobrilla was born in Austria in 1908, left there at age 3 with parents. Came to Vancouver and then Ladner for school. Father was a gillnet fisherman on the Fraser River. Murray fished with his uncle and dad for smelts in Port Moody and English Bay. Fished in a "one lunger" or one cylinder boat. Everything done by hand including rowing and pulling in the nets. Always a market for smelts, sold mostly to Chinese men and fish markets. Uncle fished for salmon around the Point Grey area and the Gulf. Helped father fish during summers from 10 years old. Fished 5 days a week. Lots of fish but low prices. Because the canneries paid by the fish, they would let the big fish go and keep the small fish, so they could carry more. Canneries didn't like that. Long, narrow boats, but with little equipment. Discusses living quarters. Worked mostly for B.C. Packers. Discusses unions, and what it was like when they came in. Discusses payment and income. Discusses salmon spawning and the river being closed to allow it. Compares old and modern equipment. Discusses Japanese fishermen, and how companies preferred them. In the early 1900s you could fish anywhere you wanted, except the Japanese were restricted at one time. The impact of gas engines. Early fisheries regulations. Collector boats. Caring for linen nets; soaking in blue stone solution and then mending. Discusses superstitions he and other fishermen had. He had a lucky hat: if he had the hat on he would catch fish, if he didn't have it on, no fish. Wouldn't open a can upside down, that was really bad luck. If you whistle in the morning, bad luck. Was on a seine for 3 years, fished for salmon and pilchards on the west coast. Discusses pollution in river, and its impact on the fishing industry. Discusses engine use in fishing and how sailboats would be towed out and in by company boats.

CALL NUMBER: T0735:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-02-05 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Nick Stevens recalls his early years on Salt Spring Island; his early life as a fisherman in the Gulf of Georgia; anecdotes about his childhood; fishing on the Fraser River; types of boats; living in a scow house; anecdotes; the Greek community on Deas Island; the Austrian community; the Spanish community; other ethnic groups in the Lulu Island area; community life and provisions. TRACK; 2: Mr. Stevens continues discussing various groups along the Fraser River; the Japanese community at Steveston; Spaniards on Duck Island; Portuguese; Kanakas from Salt Spring Island; Indian cannery ;workers; Austrians in Ladner; Chinese on Deas Island; cannery work; cannery equipment; the "Iron Chink"; the "Iron Squaw"; Deas Island; his work as a pirate fish buyer; land taxes on Lulu Island; life; on Lulu Island; fishing seasons; Chinese/Indian relations; Japanese/white relations; unloading German tin plate in Steveston; growing up in Steveston.

CALL NUMBER: T0735:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-02-05 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Stevens talks about survival in the forest; canoe trips with his mother, Emma King; characters from the Ladner area; Steveston; Ladner; travel to New Westminster; steamboats on the Fraser; in 1905; fishing procedures, circa 1900, on the Fraser and the Gulf of Georgia; sealing; sturgeon fishing; Canoe Pass; Port Guichon; the railway. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Industrial film. A survey of the Pacific coast fishing industry. Follows a commercial fishing vessel on a typical trip along the BC coast, and shows the various fishing methods used. Also includes footage of cannery operations, fish ladders at Hells Gate, spawning grounds, the cleaning of fish on a processing ship, fishery by-products (such as fish meal used for stock feed), the manufacture of nets and other equipment, fishing boat maintenance, etc. Features fishing boats Pacific Raider and Western Provider.

Industrial film. A survey of the Pacific coast fishing industry. Follows a commercial fishing vessel on a typical trip along the BC coast, and shows the various fishing methods used. Also includes footage of cannery operations, fish ladders at Hells Gate, spawning grounds, the cleaning of fish on a processing ship, fishery by-products (such as fish meal used for stock feed), the manufacture of nets and other equipment, fishing boat maintenance, etc. Features fishing boats Pacific Raider and Western Provider.

Industrial film. A survey of the Pacific coast fishing industry. Follows a commercial fishing vessel on a typical trip along the BC coast, and shows the various fishing methods used. Also includes footage of cannery operations, fish ladders at Hells Gate, spawning grounds, the cleaning of fish on a processing ship, fishery by-products (such as fish meal used for stock feed), the manufacture of nets and other equipment, fishing boat maintenance, etc. Features fishing boats Pacific Raider and Western Provider.

SUMMARY: This episode was broadcast as a fill-in for the "People in Landscape: Queen Charlotte Islands" time slot. In this program, Walter Wicks recalls his early life at a cannery near the mouth of the Skeena River.

Industrial film. The British Columbia salmon industry. The province's salmon runs. The work of fishing vessels and their crews. The B.C. Packers cannery at Steveston: salmon being unloaded at the dock; cannery operations and processes (including brief shots of an "Iron Chink" salmon butchering machine); cannery workers (lunchroom, housing, other amenities); canning of salmon. Concluding scene of a family dinner.

Industrial film. A comprehensive look at the B.C. salmon industry, including the salmon run; fishing techniques; salmon species; Nass and Skeena River migrations; Hells Gate fishways; cannery operations. Concludes with a cooking demonstration, showing methods of preparing and serving salmon.

Industrial film. Shows purse-seining for herring and pilchards off the BC coast, including the different seining methods used. Pilchards (i.e., Pacific sardines) are caught on the open Pacific by the seiner "Tatchu" and the tender "Westisle". Herring seining footage includes use of echo sounder and "feeling wire" to locate herring schools. Seining in a coastal inlet with the seiner "Southisle" and the tender "Wawanesa". Cannery operations.

Amateur film. Coastal people, places and scenery between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Includes footage of Indian villages, pictographs, birds and wildlife, logging operations, other vessels, etc. One sequence shows a Kelly raft of aviation spruce being broken up; another shows logs being unloaded from the log barge "Monongahela" (formerly the ship "Balasore", whose figurehead is shown sitting on shore). The B.C. Packers cannery at Quathiaski Cove is shown. Troops arrive at Nanaimo from Vancouver on the "Princess Victoria" and parade through the streets.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Tom and Vera Parkin RECORDED: Richmond (B.C.), 1976-01-28 SUMMARY: Tom was born in Vancouver and entered the fishing industry prior to WWII. Following War he became the organizer for the U.F.A.W.U. Spent 7 years in the north as North Representative for the Union. Returned to Vancouver in the late 1950s as Public Relations Director to campaign against dams on the Fraser. Union improved income, vacation with pay, etc. as well as dealt with the racial inequalities felt by the Japanese, Chinese and First Nations. In 1945 the U.F.A.W.U. emerged from the amalgamation of the previous unions. 1946 passed resolutions allowing Japanese back into the Union. Canneries all up and down the coast have disappeared. Only Sunnyside and Port Edwards up the coast remained in 1976. Originally agreements were reached with each company on an individual basis. He used to carry a binder of agreements in 1950. Later the companies formed the Fisheries Association of B.C. and there was one contract for the whole industry. Vera was one of the representatives on a trip to the Soviet Union to help organize international regulations concerning fishing in the North Pacific. She worked in fresh fish operation in Prince Rupert in 1951. Soviets are (1976) far more advanced and mechanized -- no independent fishermen, but mother-ship trawlers and traps. Union organization history. Discusses the future of the industry, and how important it is to the economy of the province.