Treasure Hunting Off the Grid

A roughly hewn wooden table sits at the tideline on a sandy beach fringed with smooth boulders and head-high driftwood logs. Towering old-growth cedar and hemlock rise behind us; in the distance, snow-capped mountains preside over calm seas. 

We are camped on a point at the edge of the Queen Charlotte Strait, and tonight’s supper will be very local. Freediver Chris Adair, who runs the Victoria-based outfitter Bottom Dwellers, descended to gather some rock scallops and sea urchin and spear an enormous ling cod, which the chef from the nearby Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort wrapped in bull kelp and stuffed with sea asparagus and spruce tips before putting directly atop bonfire coals to cook. Gin sea buckthorn berry cocktails are also on the menu and, for dessert, fresh young rhubarb, stewed on the fire with elderflower in a seaweed crust.

This meal was orchestrated by Nimmo’s owner/operator Fraser Murray, whose parents live in Port McNeill and opened the off-grid, fly-in (or boat-in) lodge on an inlet in the Great Bear Rainforest 40 years ago. Murray wanted to showcase the sustainable food available from the land and water in this part of B.C. For Adair, sharing fishing and harvesting outings and delicacies is much more than a job; it’s a way to introduce visitors to the culinary bounty in their backyard.

“Our cold water has so much biodiversity,” says Adair, who grew up on a lake in southern Vancouver Island and was introduced to spearfishing at age 12 on a family trip to the Mediterranean. “The tradeoff is that it’s a little dark and murky here, but there’s so much variety in every local ecosystem that’s edible.”

Since starting Bottom Dwellers in 2017, Adair has been catching rockfish, ling cod and greenling, and scooping up crabs, clams, barnacles, urchin and more—a shopping list that not only makes for an exotic meal but also shows how many choices are available.

But one must be selective in order to harvest responsibly: species, age and reproductive maturity matter. Beyond diving safety—and, for advanced students, how to handle a speargun—Adair teaches clients to be mindful in these waters. “We don’t just want to ‘limit up,’” he says. “It’s about going out and getting only what you need.” 

Adair dives all around Vancouver Island, in places such as God’s Pocket Marine Provincial Park near Port Hardy, as well as secret locations he won’t reveal. He loves discovering new things—like the loonie-sized shore crabs we had as an appetizer before that elaborate campsite dinner, fried in a cast iron pan and eaten whole. “Those crunchy little guys,” says Adair, “were awesome!”

Bottom Dwellers offers a range of multi-day freediving lessons, diving and harvesting courses, charter trips and, in partnership with the Tofino Resort + Marina, a tide-to-table package that culminates in your catch getting cooked in the hotel’s kitchen. Adair also sets up custom experiences with friends like Paul Moran, the Top Chef Canada 2019 winner. Moran left his post as executive chef at the Tofino Resort + Marina last August to launch Wild Origins, which offers forage-plus-feast experiences and sells hand-harvested kelp, rice and several different types of B.C. mushrooms, including pine, morel and chanterelle. 

A day out with Moran somewhere between Tofino and Ucluelet might begin with gathering shellfish and seaweed in the intertidal zone, and could also involve fishing or freediving. But it generally leads to the woods, where species of mushrooms such as hedgehog (sweet and nutty) and fried chicken (rich, meat-like) beckon. “I’m passionate about things people don’t see at the [grocery store],” says Moran, “and about shedding a little light on our food systems and why sustainability is so important.”

A fifth-generation forager, Moran began picking mushrooms in the foothills of the Okanagan with his family when he was 12, a tradition dating back to his great-great-grandfather in Austria. Raised in Kelowna amongst fruit trees and a big garden, in a culture of canning and preserving, Moran got hooked on cooking as a child and was working in restaurants and entering competitions by 14. He passed on culinary college after high school to learn from David Hawksworth at West in Vancouver, moving on to kitchens in Dubai, England and France, collaborating with several of Europe’s top young chefs. 

But even while working at a Michelin-starred bistro in Nice, Moran came back to B.C. every year to pick mushrooms. In 2013, he moved home for gigs at a series of upscale resorts, planning to become his own boss one day. Like Adair, he gets bored if he’s not learning.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on tourism, Moran has no regrets about launching Wild Origins. Chefs enjoy cooking, he says, but at large properties, they tend to be HR managers as much as anything else. Now he’s leading foraging outings and doing private catering for small groups of clients, relying on his hands once again. “The best thing for me is connecting with guests,” says Moran, “and sharing the abundance we have.”

Beyond the sea and forest, Moran loves snowboarding and skiing in the mountains. His dream adventure would begin at the shoreline, harvesting crabs, clams and wild plants. Then, with pots and pans and a cookstove in his backpack, he’d take a helicopter into the alpine for some backcountry touring. Moran would set up an overnight campsite, dig a pit, chop some deadwood, light a fire, and hunt around for a maple tree to tap and some frozen mushrooms. While Adair’s ideal outing doesn’t require a chopper, it is just as enticing: a remote stretch of coast accessible only by boat, scooping up shellfish, casting for salmon, and enjoying friends, family, a fire, and a feast—“a nice way to reconnect with everything that matters,” he says, “with the simple things in life.” 

And considering how that magical meal came together on Queen Charlotte Strait, both scenarios sound closer to reality than fantasy.

Photos provided by Nimmo Bay Wilderneess Resort and Wild Origins.

If you and your social bubble are interested in a foraging and freediving experience of your own, contact dawn@ediblevancouverisland.com or cathy@nichetravel.ca to curate your own Edible Adventure through Niche Travel.