The Canadian Fishing Company operates fish processing plants on Prince Rupert Harbour at Seal Cove and at George Hills Way, about 89 miles (143 km) southeast of Ketchikan and 72 miles (116 km) west-southwest of Terrace, British Columbia. George Hills Way is named after George E. Hills, an English-born political figure who represented Prince Rupert in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in 1953. The company started as a small halibut fishing operation in Vancouver in 1906. It was purchased and incorporated by the New England Fish Company, which was established in 1868 by Boston fish dealers to supply themselves with halibut from the Atlantic Banks. To meet increased demand, the company began fishing for Pacific halibut on the West Coast in 1893. Because American railroads refused to attach fish refrigerator cars to passenger trains, the company based its operations in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the Canadian Pacific Railway allowed the practice. For the 1894-1895 fishing season, the company employed the steamer Capilano from the Union Steamship Company in Vancouver. The small freighter was commanded by Captain Freeman, who later helped organize the Canadian Fishing Company.

The Canadian Fishing Company, known locally as Canfisco, built a large cold storage and ice-making plant in Vancouver in 1910. In 1912, Canfisco expanded to the north coast of British Columbia by purchasing Atlin Fisheries Limited in Prince Rupert. In 1923, the company acquired the freezing and cold storage plant at Butedale, near Wrights Sound, from Western Packers Limited, along with canneries at Shushartie Bay on Vancouver Island and Marguerite Bay on Smiths Inlet. In 1925, Canfisco bought the Kildala Cannery on Rivers Inlet, the Manitou Cannery on Deans Channel, and the Carlisle Cannery on the Skeena River from the Kildala Packing Company. In 1934, a public cold storage plant was built adjacent to the Atlin Fisheries plant in Prince Rupert. Canfisco purchased this facility in 1945, the same year it acquired the Nootka-Banfield Company, which included a fleet of pilchard and herring seiners, along with plants at Nootka and Port Albion. In 1969, the Canadian Fishing Company bought part of the assets of the Anglo-British Columbia Packing Company Limited, including the North Pacific Cannery on the Skeena River.

The New England Fish Company went bankrupt in 1980, forcing its subsidiary to sell its northern holdings to British Columbia Packers Limited. In 1984, the Jim Pattison Group purchased the company and began marketing its products globally. By 2000, the company had completed the acquisition of British Columbia Packers Limited. This acquisition included additional real estate in British Columbia and Alaska—comprising processing plants, fishing licenses, and boats—which more than doubled the company’s size. Today, Canfisco operates plants in Prince Rupert, Vancouver, Richmond, and in Alaska at Naknek and Ketchikan. Read more here and here. Explore more of Canfisco and Prince Rupert here: