The 7 Seas fillet production team cutting sockeye salmon on the line in Richmond, BC

Company | Photo Gallery

Inside 7 Seas

Real photos, real people. A walk through our Richmond plant, from the fillet line to the loading dock, with the teams that move seafood day and night.

From the Archives

Pieces of 7 Seas history as we dig them up.

John and Debbie cutting a chocolate cake decorated with 7 Seas logos at the annual company Christmas party — John and Debbie cut the 7 Seas cake at the annual Christmas party, 2017.

Archive photo from an old bank advertisement: Big John holding a king salmon on the docks, flanked by his sons and two actors — From an old bank ad that ran in Washington: Big John holds the king salmon, his sons beside him. (The two on the outside were actors.)

Fillet Production

Our main production team runs the daily cutting line: filleting, pin-boning, de-skinning, trimming, vacuum packing and freezing. Shown here: a sockeye salmon run from whole fish to palletized boxes.

Team member loading whole sockeye salmon from the hopper onto the filleting line at the 7 Seas plant in Richmond, BC — Whole sockeye comes off the hopper and onto the filleting line.

A master filleter hand-cutting sockeye salmon at 7 Seas' Richmond processing plant — A master filleter at work.

Filleting sockeye salmon by hand on the production line at 7 Seas' processing plant in Richmond, BC — Filleting sockeye salmon.

The fillet production team cutting sockeye salmon fillets on the cutting line — The team works the sockeye cutting line.

Team member feeding sockeye fillets into the pin-boning machine at the Richmond, BC plant — Fillets head into the pin-boning machine.

Removing remaining pin bones from a sockeye fillet by hand — Hand-checking every fillet for pin bones.

Team member running sockeye fillets through the de-skinning machine — Through the de-skinning machine.

Trimming a sockeye fillet after de-skinning — A final trim after de-skinning.

Trimming the belly membrane off sockeye fillets — Trimming the belly membrane.

Bagging sockeye fillets for the vacuum-packing machine — Bagged and ready for the vac-pack machine.

The team vacuum-packs and racks sockeye fillets at 7 Seas' Richmond processing plant — Vacuum-packed, racked, and headed for the freezer.

Team members inspecting a vacuum-packed sockeye salmon fillet on the packing line — A close look at every vac-packed sockeye.

Racked sockeye fillets rolling into the freezer — Into the freezer.

De-racking frozen sockeye salmon fillets before boxing — Frozen fillets come off the racks for boxing.

Boxing frozen sockeye salmon fillets at the 7 Seas plant in Richmond, BC — Boxing sockeye fillets.

Boxes of sockeye fillets stacked and ready to wrap on the pallet — Boxed sockeye fillets, ready to wrap the pallet.

Collecting salmon frames whose meat is later spooned off the bones — Salmon frames are saved. The meat gets spooned off the bones later.

The 7 Seas fillet production team smiling for the camera in the Richmond plant — The fillet production team.

Smoked, Candied & Shelf-Stable

In-house smoking and curing: dry-marinated smoked sockeye, salmon candy, and retort production (vacuum-sealed pouches pressure-cooked into shelf-stable product).

Team racking and spicing sockeye salmon before it goes into the smoker at 7 Seas' Richmond, BC smokehouse — Racked and spiced, ready for the smoker.

Measuring the spice blend used to dry-marinate sockeye salmon — Measuring out the dry-marinade spice blend.

Team member stirring a large tote of pre-smoke marinade for salmon candy — Mixing the pre-smoke marinade for salmon candy.

Salmon candy marinating before smoking — Salmon candy takes its marinade before the smoke.

Sockeye bellies saved for candying and smoking — Even the sockeye bellies are saved, candied and smoked for a popular retail program.

De-racking freshly smoked salmon candy before packaging — Smoked salmon candy comes off the racks.

Finished smoked sockeye salmon candy ready to package at 7 Seas in Richmond, BC — Salmon candy, ready to package.

The team weighing and packing smoked salmon candy at the packing table — The candy packing table in full swing.

Bagging smoked salmon candy into gold retail pouches — Into the gold retail pouches.

Team member vacuum-sealing pouches of smoked salmon candy — Sealing the candy pouches.

Portioning smoked sockeye salmon at the Richmond, BC plant — Portioning the smoked sockeye.

Weighing portions of smoked sockeye salmon — Every portion is weighed.

Smoked salmon bagged and ready for vacuum packing in the retort room — Bagged and ready to vac-pack.

Vacuum-packing retort pouches before pressure cooking — Sealing the retort pouches.

Vacuum-packed and labelled retort pouches racked for the pressure cooker in the retort room at 7 Seas' Richmond plant — Labelled, racked, and ready for the retort.

The retort pressure chamber ready for the next batch — The pressure chamber, ready for the next batch.

Team member inspecting retort pouches to confirm the seals are shelf-stable — Every pouch is inspected. These are built to be shelf-stable.

Pressure-washing the production racks — Racks get pressure-washed between runs.

The smoked sockeye production team, ready to add the spice blend before curing and smoking — The smoked sockeye crew, ready to add the spice blend before curing and smoking.

Value-Added Production

The value-added room, where prepared seafood is made (crab cakes, bacon-wrapped scallops) and where retail packs like our sea-frozen spot prawns are labelled for the shelf.

Team weighing and forming crab cakes in the ready-to-eat production room at 7 Seas' Richmond, BC plant — Crab cakes, weighed and formed by hand.

The crab cake production team smiling for the camera — The crab cake crew.

The team hand-wrapping scallops in bacon at the value-added production table at 7 Seas in Richmond, BC — The bacon-wrapped scallop line: every one wrapped by hand.

Skewering bacon-wrapped scallops by hand — Skewered by hand, tray by tray.

Trays of finished bacon-wrapped scallop skewers — Finished bacon-wrapped scallop skewers.

The bacon-wrapped scallop production team looking up from the table — The scallop crew.

The team labelling cartons of sea-frozen wild BC spot prawns at the Richmond plant — Labelling a run of sea-frozen wild spot prawn cartons.

Retail cartons of 7 Seas sea-frozen wild spot prawns being labelled — BC spot prawns: sea-frozen, boxed and labelled.

Order Assembly & Distribution

Our distribution team picks, packs and stages every customer order, scanned case by case, boxed, strapped and palletized for the delivery run.

Scanning a barcode with an RF gun to pick a customer order in the 7 Seas warehouse in Richmond, BC — Zap. Every pick is scanned.

Picking a frozen case for a customer order — Picking a frozen case for an order.

Assembling a customer order in the warehouse — Pulling an order together.

Folding a shipping box at the order assembly station — Boxes are folded to order.

Strapping a packed box closed for delivery — Strapped and ready to ship.

Order assembly team stacking packed boxes onto pallets — Stacking the orders, pallet by pallet.

A member of the order assembly team smiling for the camera — A smile from order assembly.

Forklift loading a wrapped pallet into the freezer at 7 Seas' Richmond, BC warehouse — A finished pallet heads into the freezer.

Forklift moving a tote of ice across the warehouse floor — Moving the ice tote.

Operating a forklift in the Richmond warehouse — On the forklift.

Receiving & Inventory

Where product arrives and gets accounted for: off the truck, onto the racks, into the system.

Unloading pallets off a truck at the receiving dock of 7 Seas' Richmond, BC facility — Pallets come off the truck.

Putting received stock onto the warehouse shelves — Stock goes straight to the racks.

A receiver checking an inbound pallet of product against the paperwork at the receiving dock — Every inbound pallet gets checked against the paperwork.

A receiver keying an entry into a handheld scanner at the receiving desk — Keyed in: inventory is live the moment it lands.

A receiver working through paperwork at the receiving desk — The paperwork side of receiving.

A receiver giving two thumbs up at the receiving desk — Two thumbs up from receiving.

Two team members in conversation on the receiving dock — A conversation unfolds on the receiving dock.

A member of the receiving team giving two thumbs up — Another two thumbs up.

A member of the receiving team smiling for the camera — A smile from receiving.

Two members of the inventory team smiling for the camera — The inventory team.

Shipping, Logistics & the Fleet

The team that routes every delivery, and the trucks that make the runs from our Richmond dock.

The 7 Seas shipping and logistics team of four smiling for the camera — The shipping & logistics team.

A member of the shipping team smiling for the camera — A smile from shipping.

Another member of the shipping team smiling for the camera — Shipping keeps it friendly.

Two team members labelling boxed product on pallets before shipping — Labelling pallets for the next run.

A 7 Seas refrigerated delivery truck loading up in bay 3 at the Richmond, BC facility for the next delivery run — Loading up in bay 3 for the next run.

A 7 Seas delivery truck parked in front of the Richmond, BC facility — One of our trucks outside the Richmond facility.

Office & Plant Life

Sales, procurement, purchasing, inventory, maintenance, and the food-safety habits that come before every step onto the floor.

Two members of the management team posing for the camera — From the management team.

A member of the procurement team smiling for the camera — A smile from procurement.

Two members of the purchasing team smiling for the camera — The purchasing team.

A team member posing for the camera at the 7 Seas office — A quick pose at the office.

A team member smiling for the camera at a desk — Caught mid-scroll.

The maintenance team repairing the loading bay truck ramp — The maintenance team on the loading bay ramp.

A team member washing hands at the hand-washing station before entering the plant floor — Every trip to the plant floor starts at the hand-washing station.

The Seafood, Up Close

What actually goes out the door: wild salmon, halibut, tuna, spot prawns and live shellfish, photographed the way it looks on the day.

Wild sockeye salmon fillets, deep red, laid out on ice — Wild sockeye fillets. That colour is the fish, not the lighting.

Whole wild BC sockeye salmon, dressed and head-off, piled on ice — Whole wild BC sockeye salmon, dressed and on ice.

A thick, skinless sablefish (black cod) fillet on a blue cutting board — Sablefish (black cod), fresh off the knife.

Thick-cut yellowfin (ahi) tuna steaks, deep red, on ice — Yellowfin (ahi) tuna steaks, cut thick.

Whole BC spot prawns on crushed ice, showing their white spots and striped shells — BC spot prawns: a short season, and worth the wait.

Fresh Atlantic sea scallops, never frozen, close up — Fresh Atlantic sea scallops, never frozen.

Prawns, clams and mussels in separate rows on crushed ice — Prawns, clams and mussels, side by side on ice.

Freshly shucked oysters on the half shell, close up — Oysters on the half shell.

Live BC clams on ice — Live BC clams.

Hand-formed breaded crab cakes on parchment — Crab cakes, formed by hand.

Hand-formed salmon cakes flecked with herbs and red pepper — Salmon cakes, ready for the pan.

A chilled seafood platter of cooked prawns, mussels and clams on ice with cocktail sauce — Cooked prawns, mussels and clams, plated.

A platter of crab legs and cooked lobster tails on ice with lemon — Crab and lobster tails.

A platter of fresh oysters on the half shell over ice, with lemon and mignonette — A dozen and a bit, on ice.

A Niçoise salad topped with slices of seared rare tuna — Seared tuna Niçoise.

Whole wild sockeye salmon, dressed, on crushed ice — Whole sockeye on ice.

Two whole wild sockeye salmon, dressed and head-off, on crushed ice — Sockeye, dressed and head-off.

Fresh-cut BC sockeye salmon fillets laid out on paper — BC sockeye salmon fillets, cut fresh.

A thick organic king salmon fillet on ice, close up — Organic king salmon.

Salmon and white fish fillets on ice with lemon and kale — Salmon and white fish on ice.

Pacific halibut portions, skin on, on ice — Pacific halibut portions, skin on.

A single thick-cut ahi tuna steak — One ahi tuna steak, cut thick.

Fresh Atlantic sea scallops, never frozen, in a steel pan — Fresh Atlantic sea scallops, never frozen.

Live BC mussels on crushed ice — Live BC mussels.

Ahi tuna poke: cubes of marinated raw tuna with sesame seeds — Ahi tuna poke, marinated in-house.

Blini canapés topped with crème fraîche, smoked fish and caviar — Smoked fish on blini, with caviar.

7 Seas Fish Market, Kitsilano

The consumer side of the family: our original fish market on West 4th Avenue has been serving Kitsilano since 1966.

The 7 Seas Fish Market storefront on West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano, Vancouver — The market on West 4th Avenue, est. 1966.

The full-service seafood display counter inside 7 Seas Fish Market in Kitsilano — The counter, stocked for the day.

Fresh salmon and white fish fillets laid out on ice along the fish counter — The fresh case, first thing.

A fishmonger in a blue apron holding a whole Pacific halibut nearly as tall as he is — Whole Pacific halibut, straight in the back door.

Rows of wild sockeye salmon fillets and white fish on ice in the seafood counter — Sockeye in the front row.

Tuna steaks, white fish and salmon fillets arranged on ice with lemon and kale — Tuna, sablefish and salmon.

A gloved hand shucking a fresh oyster with an oyster knife — Shucked to order.

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