WHO WE ARE | Yellow Island Aquaculture

Family operated for 35 years, Yellow Island Aquaculture Ltd. (YIAL) is a small, fully-integrated Pacific salmon hatchery and farm located on Quadra Island – just east of Campbell River on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Since our start in 1985, YIAL remains one of the oldest continuously owned Pacific salmon farm in BC.

Our specialty products are fresh whole (head-on) Chinook (spring, King) salmon, fresh fillets, hot smoked, and candied Chinook salmon. We also provide production eggs (gametes) and smolts for other aquaculture operations who wish to obtain animals from a naturally/organically raised source.

At Yellow Island, we are dedicated to taking the “whole-picture”, long-term view of growing our salmon and protecting the surrounding environment. We recognize that all elements of our environment are interlinked with each other to form the ecosystem as a functioning whole.

Yellow Island Aquaculture pioneered the organic aquaculture mvovement in BC. In 1989, we completely
stopped using antibiotics in all stages of our entire operation. We have been fully compliant to current,
stringent organic aquaculture standards since 1999. We underwent an independent, third-party audit and were verified as fully compliant in 2003.

Through a combination of in-house research studies and collaborative efforts with academia, industry, and government since 1985, YIAL remains dedicated to learning more about the basic biology of Pacific salmon and their interactions with the aquatic environment.

ONLY local, native Pacific salmon species (Chinook, King, spring salmon)
NO antibiotics, hormones, growth stimulants or chemical therapeutants used for over 25 years
NOT A FEEDLOT – low density rearing (maximum of 5 kg/m3), not force fed for growth, life history typical of wild salmon
Marine site and fresh water hatchery have high water flows and exceptionally high water quality – no algae or sea lice problems at Yellow Island Aquaculture in 30 years of culture
Fish are fed a locally-produced, custom-formulated Organically Certified feed containing essential vitamins, natural carotenoids sourced from marine micro-algae or organic Pffaffia yeast, fishmeal and fish oil from the by-product of FAO-approved sustainable wild fisheries not used for human consumption and Certified Organic grains
Many generations of breeding for natural disease resistance have resulted in naturally robust fish
All of our animals, including our brood stock fish, are reared with natural/organic methods in an exceptional environment throughout their entire life cycle
Our salmon are harvested in a humane manner and delivered promptly to enhance shelf-life and eliminate wastage