Fraser MacDonald and Samuel Gartside, Co-Founders of GoodFish Seafood, have been pioneering sustainable fishing in Canada for over 10 years. They operate with a small fleet of boats out of False Creek Fisherman’s Wharf just outside downtown Vancouver. GoodFish was established with a goal of fostering the connection between Canadians and our oceans through their seafood. Their sustainable approach is low volume, minimal-impact harvesting, utilizing industry-leading traceability technology and meticulous care to ensure the highest level of quality with each fish caught and sold.
On a brisk fall morning, XTRATUF and gravitypope met the crew down in Fisherman's Wharf, where we joined them for a day out fishing for the coveted and delicious fresh spot prawn. Later that evening Fraser and Sam hosted a barbeque of with their friends and family to share the days catch.
From the boat deck to the backyard patio, we got the chance to ask them some questions about life on the open ocean, sustainable seafood trends, and how the put their XTRATUF boots to the test.
Read the full interview with Fraser and Sam below.
Videography by Justin Pelletier
Drone Footage by Corey Grandfield
Photography by Noga Cadan + Dani Costelo
SAM WEARS THE 6" ANKLE DECK BOOT.
How and when did you two meet?
Fraser: We met at a backpacking hostel in Nairobi, Kenya in Fall 2010. I’d just finished a fishing season and Kathryn and I were just starting a 3-month backpacking trip in East Africa and we met Sam and travelled with him for a couple of months. A month or so after the trip ended he got a visa for Canada, the next week he flew into Vancouver and moved to Whistler.
Sam: We met on an overland camping trip in Africa that took us from Nairobi to Cape Town over two months. I planned on moving to the Netherlands for the next few years but when my plans changed he said I should come to Vancouver and stay with them, I jumped on the next flight and instantly fell in love with Canada.
How were both of you introduced to fishing?
Fraser: I grew up on Vancouver Island and fishing was a big part of the community I lived in, I remember going to the beach as a kid and watching the herring fishery happen right in front of my house. A lot of people I grew up with came from fishing families and it seemed like a good way to earn money as a teenager. I got my first deck-handing job after high school while going to university and enjoyed it too much to ever do anything else for too long.
Sam: I grew up in a small fishing town called Lakes Entrance in Victoria Australia, I remember seeing the scallop boats unloading and getting fresh fish and chips from the shop across the road. I never thought in a million years I would become a fisherman until I met Fraser and he took me on his prawn boat in 2011. he said all his friends fish for the summer and snowboard all winter and I thought that sounds pretty badass.
What is the importance of eating sustainable and traceable seafood, and why create a fishing business dedicated to such?
Fraser: Feeding the world requires a lot of protein and the environmental cost to our planet of agriculture is huge. Wild capture fisheries, when done selectively at a sustainable rate of harvest are the absolute best way to provide protein to people. In contrast to land-based farming and the land, water, chemicals and fossil fuels required to produce a pound of meat, we are able to let nature provide all the energy inputs and simply harvest from the abundance of the ecosystem without changing the landscape and with a fraction of the carbon footprint.
Giving our customers the option to buy wild seafood that is traceable, locally and selectively caught means they have the option to shop in line with their values. We also know that seafood can be expensive and we are always looking for ways to catch and sell species and products that can fit every price point as are committed to the principle that eating well shouldn’t be a luxury for the few.
What's your favourite thing to catch?
Fraser: It’s a toss-up between halibut and albacore tuna but I think albacore. Every albacore we catch we pull in by hand one at a time, there is so much job satisfaction in fishing that way.
Sam: My first fishing trip ever was in 2016 doing Tuna and I always loved it, when you get into a bite and you are side by side pulling fish one by one it's a rush. I just ran a prawn boat this year after deck-handing for a long time and it's such a rollercoaster of emotions. You have to wait for the traps to come up after you have set them in an area you have a hunch about. It's pure joy and validation when they are full, despair and self-loathing when they are empty haha!
SAM (LEFT) AND FRASER (RIGHT) WEAR THE 6" ANKLE DECK BOOT.
What Xtratufs are you wearing and why have you been wearing them for years?
Fraser: I’ve been wearing the 15” legacy boot each fishing season ever since I discovered them in about 2013. They are so comfortable and have the best grip. During some of our fisheries, we spend upwards of 18-24 hours a day in our boots so comfortable boots are important. The ankle boots are so handy for around town and on the boat.
Sam: Having the right gumboots is so critical as a fisherman, so I have a pair of the 6" ankle deck boots that I slide on when I'm working down at the harbour, perfect for staying dry and I can keep them on when I need to step out and run some errands. You spend so much time on your feet so when I'm out fishing I wear the 15'' they wrap my foot perfectly and keep my flat feet from aching.
What are the best parts of starting a business with friends?
Fraser: Starting a business can be both fun and rewarding but also a hard never-ending grind, sometimes it’s all of those things at once. Going through that journey with a friend that you trust completely has been vital. Through all the micro successes and failures, the expensive mistakes and the cheaper ones, you never have to question whether the other person was trying their hardest and giving it everything they had. You know they were without ever having to ask, that trust and faith in each other’s work ethic and integrity is invaluable.
Sam: I have worked so many different jobs over the years and I have always taken such pride in my work, I would always do everything I could to do a good job but often you aren't appreciated and your best interest wasn't considered. Starting a business with someone you care about, respect, trust and share the same vision with has been such an amazing experience. Knowing they feel the same way and want to push you and support you to be great makes it easy to come in every day and work.
It seems as though there's a tight-knit fishing community in Vancouver, how important is a community in the fishing industry?
Fraser: The fishing industry in general is tight-knit, it's small and if you don’t know someone directly, you know their boat or you have a mutual friend. The camaraderie that goes along with working on fishing boats is the base of the industry's strength. Working out in the elements and through the hardships that are common on the water builds strong bonds that endure long after the work is done. Without the person next to you on deck having your back or your friends on another boat across the fishing grounds looking out for you when you need help or are broken down the whole thing wouldn’t work. I’ve been lucky to build some amazing friendships, persevere through some terrible trips and at times, make a good living while having some of the most fun times in my life. I guess looking at it, the community part of fishing is maybe one of the best parts.
What has been the most unexpected aspect of opening your own seafood business?
Fraser: I think I was enough years out from starting the fishing company back in 2011 that I forgot just how hard and how much work it is to start something brand new. The daily learning curve was and continues to be steep. Learning the other side of the fish business (the selling and not just the catching) from scratch has been tiring but also amazing. My job forces me to learn every day and every season and I’ve learned that it's the learning and the challenges that keep me engaged and stoked.
Sam: Definitely how hard it has been haha, we started in 2020 just before COVID and it has been a grind getting everything up and running. Running the day-to-day operations with just the two of us while juggling the fishing side of things and all that goes into it was a challenge, to say the least. We are starting to level out and feel like we are in a good position now with the help of our small crew, Fraser's wife Kathryn and Dan Baskett who has come on board to help us manage the day-to-day operations.
What is your favourite thing to listen to while fishing?
Fraser: We tend to listen to lots of rap music when I’m on the aux but I like all kinds of music, and on the boat, the whole spectrum gets played. Anything from rap to pop, love ballads, 90’s dance to country, every era of rock and literally anything in between. Any genre can get it. We have very broad musical tastes in our crew so we keep things moving which is good, the same music over and over can kill morale in a hurry.
Sam: Fraser and I listen to a lot of rap music, on prawns we would have "wensyays" where we would exclusively listen to Kanye haha. But to be clear, we were then rocking with the old Kanye. All the crew gets a chance to put their music on so you get a mixed bag which I love. Could be Limp Bizkit, could be Beethoven who knows.
What is your favourite thing to do on a chilly fall Vancouver day?
Fraser: I love the Fall, for most of my adult life Fall has been the time of year when I get home from being gone on the water for 5 or 6 months, it means getting to catch up with friends, dinners, seeing family, going for hikes and walking my dogs with my wife. The chilly weather kicks off the start of winter which to me means all my favourite hobbies; snowboarding, hockey, winter golf and travelling.
Sam: I love to walk down 10th Avenue between Main and Cambie and check out all the Halloween decorations with my girlfriend then pop into the Anza Club, play some pool or crib and grab a Guinness. On a fall fishing trip sometimes the weather will come up and you will have to go in and anchor in a protected bay. If we have time, it's pretty nice to take out the rowboat and row onto the beach and have a beach fire and drink a beer (or two).
FRASER (LEFT) WEARS CARHARTT WIP OG CHORE COAT, AND SAM (RIGHT) WEARS VETRA 5C SHORT WORKWEAR JACKET.
Where are some of your favourite restaurants in Vancouver?
Fraser: I would say Bao Bei, Pepinos Spaghetti House, Tacofino and (my favourite restaurant anywhere) Sushi Village up in Whistler.
Sam: I love Shiro Sushi, Tacofino and Pepino's Spaghetti House.
Do you have any exciting projects or trips coming up that you can share?
Fraser: We are rigging one of our newer boats up to do weekly deliveries to the city of fresh halibut and lingcod starting Spring 2024, we’ll be able to deliver 1 or 2-day fresh fish custom caught exactly for each of our customers and chefs. Whatever they want to feature that week we can target as we are actually the ones fishing it, offloading it, trucking it back and delivering it ourselves with all our own equipment and trucks. The small-scale nature and traceability of that fishing and sales program is so exciting to me. It means our customers can access the same high-quality fresh fish as the best chefs in Vancouver every week directly from us down at the dock.
Sam: We are working on a full line of canned and pouched products that are designed to be a healthy, filling meal for people on the go whether that be on the bus on the way to work or in the backcountry on a snowmobile. Keep an eye on our socials for that coming soon.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, WEARING XTRATUF 6" DECK BOOT IN BLACK AND DANTON 3LAYER CLOTH ZIP UP JACKET, XTRATUF 6" DECK BOOT IN GRAY AND ACNE STUDIOS MOHAIR BLEND JUMPER, XTRATUF 6" DECK BOOT IN LIGHT BLUE, RACHEL COMEY FOND SWEATSHIRT, AND POMANDERE ICONIC SHIRT, XTRATUF LEGACY DECK BOOT IN BROWN, BASERANGE OLE SHIRT, AND A.P.C. STANDARD SKIRT, XTRATUF 6" DECK BOOT IN BLACK AND YMC EARTH BEACH JACKET.
Any shoutouts?
Fraser: I would like to say thank you to my wife, my sister and my parents for all the support over the years through the ups and downs. Fishing is an unrelenting career and between March and October for the last 19 years, I could rarely commit to anything more than about 2 days away because I never know what will be happening. From missing birthdays and special events to them driving all over Vancouver Island to deliver parts to boats, pickup crew members, or hop in a delivery truck full of live pawns to take them to market they always have my back and I can’t thank them enough for their love and support. Thanks to Chris, Nick and Mike and everyone at NDS, Glasfurd and Walker, Al Dunn, the Mauriks family, Frank Syrotuck, Graham Millicheap and all the other fishermen who have taught me or given me an opportunity, nothing is possible without strong relationships and I’ve been fortunate to build many. A huge thank you to everyone who has worked and currently does work with me. I see and appreciate the trust you put in us to make you a good return on the time you invest in our operation and I appreciate all of your insights, observations and suggestions. GoodFish and Howe Sound Seafood get stronger every year because of the strength of their parts. Finally, thank you to our customers for choosing GoodFish, it’s our whole world catching fish for you and we’re going to keep doing it in a way we are proud of and see where things go!
Sam: I would love to shout out Aren and Phoebe and the team at Glasfurd & Walker, they did such an amazing job of helping us bring our vision to life, they did our brand design and worked tirelessly during COVID to bring GoodFish to life, lots of zoom meetings haha!
