Haida Gwaii - Queen Charlotte Islands

The Queen Charlotte Islands are located off the west coast of British Columbia, Canada just south of Alaska. Composed of over 150 islands and solitary inlets, the islands are known as Haida Gwaii

or Islands of the People. The islands create a 150 mile long Archipelago about 90 miles off the mainland, essentially forcing every salmon in the Pacific Northwest to bypass them on their annual migration. The result is virtually no down time in between runs as wave-upon-wave of salmon spends time feeding the rich waters of the Cartwright Sound. What makes the Queen Charlotte Islands so special is our geographic location. The Japanese Pacific Current forces rich nutrients and schools of baitfish over the Continental Shelf into the Queen Charlotte Islands kelp beds creating rich consistent feeding grounds for all species of fish, ALL season long.

View Larger Map

Chinook Salmon begin to migrate down from the Gulf of Alaska in March and arrive by April on the west coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands and continue to migrate throughout the summer.

Almost all major runs of salmon from the Skeena, Fraser, and Columbia River systems on the west coast of Vancouver Island – must pass by the Queen Charlotte Islands during their migration and consequently pass into the fishing grounds. For those salmon which may be returning to spawn, they must navigate past the islands in order to get back to their rivers and streams of origin from northern British Columbia and Vancouver Island to Washington, Oregon, and northern California.