Visit to True North Seafood in Canada
Although the Euclid Fish Company has been purchasing Canadian Atlantic salmon for some time, we have never been to the sites to see where the fish are raised and how they get to your plate. We traveled to St. Andrews in New Brunswick, Canada to see the operations at True North Seafood. During our visit, we had the opportunity to observe all parts of the salmon’s life cycle, from their egg and smolt stage on the Digdeguash River to Charlie Cove, where they spend another two years at sea to grow to market size.
About True North Seafood
At all points, the operations at True North Seafood are in total synchrony with nature with responsible water treatment and the fallowing of farms after every harvest; total respect to the environment and every condition of the salmon’s life is near duplicate of a wild fish. During our tour of the hatchery, we met Dave, the farm manager who has been raising salmon since the early ‘90s. He explained that salmon eggs are raised in broodstock programs with aims for the best family genetics from color, fat, resistance to extreme weather conditions, and overall odds to survive the three year life cycle.
Their 100 lb black farm dog walked with us in the Canadian rain as we inspected the outdoor tanks containing gravity-fed fresh water from the Digdeguash River. The fish in their egg state spend about a year here in freshwater, where their oxygen levels, feed supply, and power supply are monitored 24/7. True North Seafood strives to raise over 12 million smolt annually. After about one year of hand-rearing by their team, the fish begin swimming against the current as water temperature changes. When at the right size, tanker trucks take the fresh salmon and introduce them to their new sea water homes to brave the Bay of Fundy for two years.
Our Visit to Charlie Cove Net Pens
The trip to Charlie Cove was about a 30-minute skiff ride to visit the 18 open net pens at one of the growers farm sites. At this point, the fish are fed a steady diet of a fish meal feed and watched around the clock. We were a few weeks too early to see whales travel through the coast, but the sites are right there with migrating right whales and minke.
True North Seafood has underwater cameras that tie to their feeder vessels so the fish are not overfed and no excess goes to waste. One net pen contains 98% water and only 2% fish, so there is ample room for the fish. We motored back in our orange safety at-sea outfits to gear up to the processing facility. Our tour was able to see the fish intake into the facility once harvested at sea from whole fish form to filet, steaks, skewers, and burgers. They take tremendous care to remove bones, clean trim and scales, and use proper packaging. It truly is a spotless, state-of-the-art facility!
Earlier in the day, we submitted our purchase order for Euclid Fish Company. At the plant tour, it was being fileted and processed, destined for Cleveland in less than two days. True North Seafood showed us from start to finish the head-to-tail process of how one of the healthiest proteins gets to Northeast Ohio and all of our delivery channels. Everyone at True North Seafood takes the utmost care in providing our customers with some of the best salmon on the East Coast - from the Atlantic Ocean to your kitchen just three days later!
Euclid Fish Company: A Premium Supplier of Canadian Atlantic Salmon
We pride ourselves in offering restaurant-quality fresh and frozen seafood while staying true to our commitment to sustainability. Schedule an appointment with our sales team today to sample and order our wholesale Canadian Atlantic salmon!