The salmon canning industry was extremely wasteful: initially it only processed chinook and sockeye; other species caught in the nets were killed and thrown away. As well, when the supply was so plentiful that the canning lines could not keep up, the excess was discarded. The high volume of fish being harvested for the modern salmon canning industry initiated the first colonial regulations in the fisheries industry. What was the role of mechanization in the salmon canning industry? How did this impact workers, cannery owners, and the economy? What were the environmental impacts of the canneries? Can we see any of the environmental or economic impacts of the canneries today?
Watch this short 1938 government-sponsored industrial film, The Inside Story. This film shows what was going on inside the canneries at the time, starting with scenes of fishermen dumping salmon into a boat hold and ending with a housewife as a consumer of the modern canned salmon product.
To learn more about the relationship between the salmon canning industry and fisheries policies in B.C., check out this entry in the Encyclopedia of BC
Read this excerpt from the Encyclopedia of British Columbia to learn about the salmon canning and fishing industry.
This 25-minute film produced by the Gulf of Georgia Cannery Society explores Canada’s West Coast canning industry and how turning points in immigration, global conflicts, economic change, social movements, and technological progress have all affected the fishery’s evolution.
Read this short article from the BC Black History Awareness Society about John S. Deas, the owner of B.C.’s first commercial salmon cannery.
Check out this vintage film clip showing catching and processing salmon in a cannery located in Namu, B.C.
This 1996 exhibit from the Canadian Museum of History profiles the resource-based communities of British Columbia’s coastal region.
Read this reflection by Billy Assu from Assu of Cape Mudge from the Canadian Museum of History about the role of Indigenous people in the canning industry over time.
The Labour History Project pays particular attention to gender in this overview of working conditions in British Columbia’s canneries throughout history.
This document from the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site contains four stories from the perspectives of different cannery workers.
Skim this textbook chapter to learn about race, ethnicity, and immigration in post-confederation Canadian history. Search for the word ‘canneries’ to find the specific passage about the salmon canning industry.
Read this document by the Labour History Project about the history of child labour in British Columbia.