10/17/2026
Have you ever wondered how your favourite wild seafood makes it from the ocean to your plate?
Welcome to Fisheries 101! Every week, we’re breaking down the types of fishing gear used along the B.C. coast, from purse seiners and longliners to traps, commercial divers, and trollers.
This week, we’re spotlighting the Midwater Trawler!
How it works: Midwater trawlers tow a large, cone-shaped net through the water column, held open by a pair of steel “doors” that spread the mouth wide. Skippers use sonar and sensors on the net to set it at the exact depth of a school, and the gear never touches the ocean floor, which is the key difference from next week’s bottom trawler. Hake travel in dense schools, so the catch is mostly one species, and B.C.’s groundfish trawl fleet operates with 100% at-sea and dockside monitoring, so every tow, kept or released, is counted against each vessel’s quota.
Beyond the catch: Pacific hake (also sold as whiting) is one of B.C.’s largest fisheries by volume and its mid-water trawl fishery has been MSC certified for more than 15 years. It’s mild, lean, flaky, and one of the most affordable wild fish on the coast. That soft flesh is made for fish tacos: dredge chunks in seasoned flour, pan-fry two to three minutes a side until golden, then pile into warm tortillas with cabbage slaw, lime, and a little crema.
Understanding how your seafood is caught empowers you to make sustainable choices that support independent harvesters and thriving coastal communities. Join us next week to learn more about BC’s own Butterfly Trawler!
Explore our BC Seafood Buying Guide to connect directly with local harvesters, CSFs, and dock sales near you! 🔗https://www.bucksuzuki.org/bc-seafood-buying-guide
📸 Photo credits: Trawler photo: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, from “A collaborative effort to protect Chinook populations incidentally caught in the groundfish trawl fleet” (dfo-mpo.gc.ca).
