About Us

Joel initiallystarted out fisheding BC spot prawns and all five species of salmon. In fishing, you are always looking for ways to diversify. You never know what any given year may hold, and having options that allow you to make the best decisions year to year is critical to resilience in this industryto fish something else during a bad year may save you. This is why we got involved in the swimming scallop fishery.

Joel started fishing scallops in 2017 under the guidance of his Uncle, a retired scallop fisherman. At this time, most of the original scallop fishers had retired and no one had been fishing them for several years.
Any market that had previously existed, had disappeared and fish buyers were not interested in buying them. Rather than admitting defeat,we created West Coast Wild Scallops in order to market and sell our catch.

Selling scallops is much harder than one would think. They were relatively unknown and are significantly different than what the average seafood consumer thinks when you hear "scallop". While Joel learned and further developed the fishing method, Melissa took on marketing and sales.

After years of hard work and pounding the pavement, we have made some great relationships with retailers, wholesalers and local consumers. We plan to continue to build the fishery and our business and hope that one day, swimming scallops will be as well known and sought after as salmon and spot prawns.

Want to know more? Keep reading to learn about Joel's fishing family .

Fishing runs in the family!

Joel is a fourth-generation fisherman from a large fishing family on his mother's side. The Larson family has been fishing for close to 100 years. Great Grandpa Larson built the Seafarer while living in the aptly named Larson's Bay located in Lund, BC. We don't know the dates for sure or if he had any fish boats before that. What we do know is that Great Grandpa and Granny Larson were fishing by the time their son Elmer (Joel's Grandpa) was born in 1926. We are hoping that with some more digging, we can find out more about the family history.

Great Grandpa and Granny Larson on the Seafarer in the 1920s

Joel's first fishing trip was with his Aunt and Uncle when he was 6 years old on a small double ender called the Eggem. "My favourite part about fishing was that they had Corn Pops cereal on the boat and I got to hang out with my cousins". He continued taking short trips with family throughout his youth until his parents bought their own boat in 1990. From that point on, the Lisa Jess became a home away from home and Joel spent part of every summer fishing with his family.

Peter and Marilyn Collier (Joel's parents) the day they bought the Lisa Jess, 1990.

Joel sought out a career as a Petroleum Engineer, studying at the University of Alberta. This is where he met his wife, Melissa, who was working towards her degree in Animal Biology. After graduating, they spent several years working in the oil and gas industry in Alberta. Melissa followed her career to the coast taking her to Vancouver, and then eventually allowing them to return to Joel's home town of Black Creek, BC. Even during this time, Joel would occasionally return home and help his dad on the boat.