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archival descriptions
Collection · 1898-1983

The collection consists of photographs that document the British Columbia Packers Limited's widespread fishing and business operations. A local company with global interests, British Columbia Packers Limited's fish camps, canneries and plants dominated British Columbia's expansive coastline, in addition to those located on the east coast of Canada and beyond national boundaries. Taken by amateur and professional photographers, this collection of over 2000 images provided British Columbia Packers Limited with the means to communicate to its employees what was happening throughout the company. They also served a dual purpose by marketing the company and its various fish products locally, nationally and globally. The collection includes photographs of fishing boats, fish camps, canneries and plants, fishing technology, fish processing techniques, whaling and salmon in their natural habitat. It also includes a series of photographs documenting the construction of the new Imperial Plant in Steveston. Although the majority of the photographs document the fishing industry in Steveston and other areas along the B.C. coast such as Quadra Island, Skeena River, Queen Charlotte Islands, Alert Bay, Campbell Island, Bella Bella and Prince Rupert, canneries on the east coast are also represented. Taken as a whole, these photographs document the changes in fishing and canning technology within the British Columbia Packers Limited over a span of eight decades. The collection also includes photographs that reflect the property damage caused by the British Columbia earthquake of 1946 and photographs from a Klondike gold rush souvenir album from 1898.