Place: Fogo Island, Newfoundland

Products: Hand-line, Ocean Wise Cod

From the cold waters of the Labrador current, hand lined, caught live, bled at sea and flash frozen at the peak of freshness. We catch fish the traditional way. Single “hook and line”, hauled up by hand in open day boats, around twenty feet long, two people to a boat. Our cod results in zero by-catch, no ecological damage to the ocean floor and is the only Newfoundland fish to be 100% Ocean Wise recommended. Our cod fishery is a stewardship fishery as there is no commercial fishing for North Atlantic cod. From an economic perspective, 100% of Fogo Island fish’s surpluses are reinvested on Fogo Island, contributing to the economic resilience of the Island and those who call it home.

We bleed our fish, we take the fish off the hook, break it’s gills and place it in a bath of sea water and ice to bleed out. Once bled, we gut the fish and wash it with sea water and store it on ice for the ournet home, resulting in a firmer, whiter, tastier fillet.

All our fish are caught within 5 miles off the coast of Fogo Island, in view of home. Because we fish close to home. it is processed the day it’s caught. We only catch fish once a year, in the fall when the fish are at their physiological peak. They have been gorging throughout the summer on bait fish to put on weight after spawning in the spring. This allow us to take 20-25 % fewer fish from the ocean.

We have a community owned cooperative on the Island that processes all our fish. The co-op fillets, debones and packages the fish. We use world class technology to “flash freeze” the fish the day it was caught to ensure maximum freshness.

You may have heard of us, seen us in the media, or tasted our products throughout Ontario and I encourage you to cook, taste and enjoy this beautiful fish in your kitchen. Join our small group of like-minded people looking for the best product. You can catch a glimpse of our fishers in action in the National Film Board of Canada’s documentary Hand.Line.Cod at https://www.nfb.ca/film/hand_line_cod/.