A fishboat packed with fresh lingcod — a premier B.C. product — is set to land this morning in Ucluelet, where the fish will be unloaded and taken to Vancouver to provide up to 10,000 meals for people in need.
The donation of about 3,000 pounds of lingcod is a result of a collaboration involving a Nanoose fisherman and his teenage son, a Richmond-based seafood firm, a packing company, and a charity that will distribute the fish.
Lingcod don’t have the sleek lines of a shiny silver salmon, but don’t let their appearance fool you — they are among the tastiest and most prized white fish in the sea.
The project is spearheaded by Organic Ocean Seafood Inc. of Richmond, which normally sells sustainable seafood to markets in Canada, the U.S. and Asia, where it can be found in Michelin-starred restaurants, said chief executive Dane Chauvel.
Since the pandemic hit, the company has set up its Neighbours Helping Neighbours venture to sell seafood through a contactless home-delivery service, and to support projects such as the lingcod catch.
Nanoose Bay fisherman Jeff Belveal offered his services and took his son, Isaac, 17, who volunteered as crew on a 37-foot fishing boat, Chauvel said.
The Belveals left the east side of Vancouver Island for a 30-hour trip to Hot Springs Cove off the west coast of Vancouver Island, where they have spent the past few days catching the lingcod using a hook and line.
After the lingcod is unloaded at Ucluelet, it will be taken by truck to Coldfish Seafood Company in Vancouver, where the team is donating its time to cutting and processing the fish. The lingcod will then go to Goodly Foods Society, a Vancouver-based social enterprise, which will use it in soups for people in need. Goodly will distribute its fish soup to other charities in Greater Vancouver and share the fish with organizations providing meals to groups in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, said Aart Schuurman Hess, Goodly’s chief executive.
The donation will generate between 9,000 and 10,000 meals for vulnerable and marginalized people, Schuurman Hess said. “We are very excited about it and we are looking forward to sharing it.”
Jeff Belveal, a fourth-generation fisherman who was born in Alert Bay and raised in Sointula, is providing the lingcod to Organic Ocean at a discounted price, said Chauvel.
“If you ever needed evidence that a crisis brings out the best in people, this is it,” Chauvel said. “While Capt. Jeff, like his fellow fishermen, has had anything but an easy ride these last few years, he didn’t hesitate when offered the opportunity to be the guy who provided the fish to help feed his less-fortunate neighbours. He’s just one of the many heroes in this chain of neighbours helping neighbours.”
The value of the project is about $30,000, he said.
