Where's the Fish?

Yep, I can see the headlines now:

"OCD-ADHD woman goes hungry while trying to decide what to eat"

All I wanted was a simple can of fish. We have plenty in the cupboards thanks to Ozzy stocking up on tuna for me (one of those things I can eat every day that covers all taste and nutrient requirements) and the local food bank's supply of salmon and shrimp. I also have a mini bag and a small box of sardines. Score!


I had this sudden craving for fish because:

1. I'm hungry.
2. It's the only meat we have in the house right now.
3. I love fish.
4. I'm researching Canadian Corporate Giant Galen Weston and currently reading up about how he merged and/or sold off major Canadian fish processing operations on the east and west coasts (BC Packers here in BC and Connors Brothers Ltd. in New Brunswick) to a British investment company. Sure this happens all the time, but at a time when our economy was struggling to get a foothold in international markets, it just seemed a little disloyal. Then again, blood is thicker than water, and even though he considers himself British-Canadian, I'm guessing his loyalty lies more with his roots. But, as usual, I digress.

So here I am wanting a simple, quick meal of fish-in-a-can but I can't find one single product from Canada. Seriously!? The No Name brand apparently relies on China for their shrimp and Thailand for their tuna. Well at least they're packed here in Canada, right? No wait, that's just the location of their company headquarters and there's no mention of where they're actually packed. Must look into that later.

Then there's the Beaver brand sardines. Surely they're Canadian! Well they might be, but the fish is marked as a product of Thailand.

And how about these Larena Sardines? Product of Vietnam.

But here we have a tin of Clover Leaf! Now we're talking. Wild Red Pacific Sockeye Salmon from a good ole, well-known Canadian brand... which appears to be a "product of the US". Are you kidding me? No offense to my American friends, at least we're closer to home with a somewhat symbiotic, mutually-beneficial economy here, but when did Canada run out of fish?

Not all hope is lost for Canadian caught/packed/distributed fish, however! The other day I was logging my macronutrients into MyFitnessPal and noticed that the tin of salmon I had consumed for lunch was caught and packaged here in BC. It was one of the tins we received from the Surrey Food Bank last delivery. It's part of an initiative called Protein for People:


I've had their website open for days, reading bits and pieces as time allows, and feeling more positive about the future of our local fishing industry, economy and our community in general. Ozzy and I were just talking a few days ago about how great it would be if instead of a certain group of fishermen keeping the female salmon and throwing away the carcasses of the males, they smoked them and handed them out to folks living on the streets. Salmon is one of those amazing foods that doesn't just keep you alive, it gives you energy and feeds your brain. It looks like the Protein for People project is on the same page by helping the disadvantaged people here at home. You have our gratitude and our respect.

But for now, I'm still hungry. So a choice needs to be made: which non-Canadian fish do I want to eat for breakfast. The pantry is a little bare at the moment, so other options are out of the question. One way or another, it's going to be fish. I can live with that. I love fish.

Later today I'll be immersed in Canadian-caught salmon (Spring, Spring Jack, Coho), courtesy of Ozzy, as I prepare to smoke it in a variety of flavours (smoked, candied, jerk-sauce jerky). Okay, technically I'm using a dehydrator, but smoked salmon sounds so much better than dehydrated, right? So that's further proof right there that we do, indeed, still have fish in Canada.

Either way, I'm reluctant to go with the preferred US product since it's salmon, and as you can see, we already have a lot of salmon. This leaves me with a choice of eating fish products (tuna, sardines or shrimp) from Thailand, Vietnam or China. Eenie meenie...

Later Note: Four hours later and I still haven't eaten. The salmon, however, has been fileted, deboned, sorted and stored ready for marinading (thanks Ozzy). It's really hard to eat canned products when you have a bounty such as this. One of the many reasons why I love living in BC. Now... what to eat?