Right off DFO Site
Packaging Your Salmon
When packaging your catch, if a maximum size limit applies, the head and tail must remain attached until you prepare and consume your catch, arrive at your ordinary residence, or deliver your catch to a registered processing facility.
The head of your salmon can be removed only if the length with the head off is equal to or greater than the minimum legal size of that species for the waters in which it was caught. Leave the tail attached so the species can be determined, For example, if a chinook salmon is caught where the minimum size limit is 62 cm and it is filleted and packaged for transport, one of the fillets must have the tail attached and be at least 62 cm long. If necessary
the fillet can be cut into two pieces; the tail must remain attached to one of the pieces. The fillets should be placed side by side in one bag making it obvious that they represent one fish, and the bag must be labelled with:
the salmon species - e.g., "one chinook"
the number of fillets - "two fillets"
the number of pieces - "four pieces"
the angler’s name and fishing licence number.
The exception to the above requirements is if your salmon has a healed scar in place of a missing adipose fin. In this case, please remove the head and turn it in to a Salmon Head Recovery Depot. The clipped fin indicates the presence of a coded-wire nose tag used for research purposes. If your salmon is missing its adipose fin, you could participate in the Salmon Sport Head Recovery contest.
A "hatchery marked fish" is defined as one which has a healed scar in place of the missing adipose fin. For fisheries that allow for the retention of hatchery marked fish only, anglers are required to ensure that proof of the healed scar remains clearly distinguishable after packaging (i.e. do not
remove the portion of the fish that contains the scar).
Steaking Salmon
When steaking a salmon in preparation for transport do not cut all the way through the fish. Leave the steaks connected by a piece of skin and place waxed paper or plastic film between each steak. Similarly, the tail must remain attached to the body of the fish by a piece of skin. The fish can then be wrapped as a whole fish and later steaks can be removed as required without thawing.
Note: When packaging other species, such as halibut or rockfish, the skin must remain on each fillet for identification purposes.
Labelling Your Container or Cooler
When packaging salmon for guests, lodges and charter operations are to clearly provide the following information of the outside of the transport container:
(a) the name of angler and fishing licence number; only one name per box
(b) number of fish by species and number of packages. For example, the label on the outside of the box should state, in the case of two packaged chinook or two packaged halibut:
"2 chinook - 2 packages" or,
"2 halibut - 8 packages"
When individuals are transporting or shipping fish they must package their fish separately and only have one name per package. However, they may share a container. It is recommended that the contents (number of fish, species, and number of packages) be listed on the outside of the container to facilitate inspection.
