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SEPTEMBER 2017 BCBUSINESS 43 BCBUSINESS.CA captain leasing quota—to work their way up to an ownership position. That's an oversimpliication, says Sonia Strobel, co-founder and man- aging director of Richmond-based Skipper Otto's. If Can•sco is the Goliath of commercial •shing, Skipper Otto's is the David. Strobel says she and her husband, Shaun, launched it in 2008 in response to the pressure on family •shing opera- tions from factors such as the escalating cost of leasing and buying quota, the con- solidation of processing and the closure of public docks that once let •shermen off load their catch for free. (North- ern •shermen now have one choice— pay to use a Can•sco-owned dock in Prince Rupert.) " My f at h e r-i n- law, Otto, has gill- netted for salmon since 1969, and my husband has ished for most of his life," Strobel says. "During that time there has been a steady decline in the number of independent ishing families. Our goal is to not only make a pro•t but also support •sh- ermen with a fair liv- ing wage." Skipper Otto's is based on a commu- nity-supported agri- culture model, in which members pay upfront for a certain amount of seafood that varies depend- ing on what's seasonally and annually available. Participating •shermen have the security of a guaranteed market for their catch, while consumers know who caught the •sh, how it was caught and where the money goes. Yet a look at Skipper Otto's roster of 30 or so mostly silver-haired •shermen con•rms that salmon ishing is increasingly an old man's game. The out•t may be a small player com- pared to Can•sco, but Strobel says it's growing: "Last year we took on four new •shermen, and we're getting inquiries all the time." At press time, Skipper Otto's was completing a memorandum of under- standing that will enable it to build a 10,000-square-foot processing facility on DFO land in Steveston. Hopefully, Strobel says, construction will be •n- ished in time for 2018's peak Fraser sockeye run, which is expected to be in August and September. Fishermen are an individualistic lot, averse to overbearing government intrusion. Spend a few minutes with the likes of Quincy Sample on his boat, or visit any dock where trollers, seiners and gillnetters tie up, and you'll get the idea. Back on the water, Sample shows the grit and optimism that is perhaps the only reason he continues to reinvest in commercial •shing. Debt has been his constant companion. When Sample was 22, he owed $220,000 on a salmon licence; he hasn't stopped i nvest i ng, buy i ng quota when he can and leasing what- ever he can't aŸord to buy. Recently he bought a salmon trolling licence for $160,000. Sample owns 15 per cent of his halibut quota and leases the rest of what he catches from so-called armchair ishermen. "It's like gold," he says. He shrugs about the DFO's hopes to introduce the ITQ sys- tem across the board in the salmon sec- tor. Quota is expensive, Sample admits, but there's an unexpected upside to this market-based mechanism for access to commercial •shing opportunities. Pre- viously, walking into a bank to ask for •nancing with not much more than a beat-up •sh boat for collateral was a non- starter. But banks now recognize quota as a valuable asset, enabling •shermen like Sample to leverage it for •nancing. "The problem with the big com- panies is that they have deep pockets and can bid up the price of quota. The Jimmy Pattisons of the world are own- ing the industry," he says. "But you know, there will always be •res to put out. I'll always •sh." ■ "My father-in-law, Otto, has gillnetted for salmon since 1969, and my husband has fished for most of his life. During that time there has been a steady decline in the number of independent fishing families. Our goal is to not only make a profit but also support fishermen with a fair living wage" Men, making a statement doesn't have to be so hard Make your life extraordinary with the BCBusiness Extraordinary Man #foundersbox S U B S C R I B E N O W AT BCBusiness.ca/ Extraordinary-man

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