🎣 Fishing Conditions
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📅 7-Day Forecast
📊 Historical Data
Vancouver Harbour fishing & marine conditions
Vancouver Harbour is the working waterfront of Burrard Inlet, running from the First Narrows under the Lions Gate Bridge east into Indian Arm. It is deep, sheltered from ocean swell, and among the busiest commercial waterways on the coast, with fishable water close to a major city.
What runs here, and when
The inlet holds resident winter chinook through the colder months, which is the mainstay of the local fishery. Summer brings migratory chinook moving through toward the Fraser, and coho follow later in the season. Crab and prawn are taken in the inlet, subject to seasonal openings and contamination closures that apply in parts of the harbour.
Vancouver Harbour salmon fishing — runs, limits & season
Local hazards
Commercial traffic is the defining hazard: deep-sea vessels, tugs with tows, and harbour craft use the inlet constantly, and the First Narrows is a controlled traffic area. Current through the First Narrows runs hard and produces significant tide rips against a wind. Float planes operate from the inner harbour. Some areas carry harvest closures for shellfish on health grounds.
Tides, current and sea state
The First Narrows constricts the entire tidal exchange of Burrard Inlet into a narrow gap, so the current there is strong and the rips on a large ebb are pronounced. Inside, the inlet is generally calm, but a westerly funnelling in through the narrows can build a short chop. Plan transits of the narrows around the current and the traffic scheme.
Live data on this page
Conditions above are for 49.280°N, 123.120°W. Wind, wave and pressure data come from Open-Meteo and refresh every three hours; tide predictions come from the Canadian Hydrographic Service. The fishing score combines wind, wave height, barometric trend, moon phase, tide movement and time of day.
Marine forecast & warnings
Vancouver Harbour lies in Environment and Climate Change Canada's Strait of Georgia marine forecast zone.
No marine warnings are in effect for this zone.
ECCC reissues the forecast through the day and can post a warning at any hour, so the Marine Forecast panel above carries the current wind, visibility and multi-day outlook word for word. It describes the open water of the zone, not a particular bay inside it, and is no substitute for the VHF or weatheradio broadcast.
Tidal currents
Fishing Vancouver Harbour is timed by the current, not the tide height. The passes that govern it are First Narrows and Second Narrows.
First Narrows floods to the southeast and ebbs to the northwest, running to 5.3 knots. Slack on November 1: 05:36, 13:31, 19:46, 22:33.
Second Narrows floods to the east and ebbs to the west, running to 5.6 knots. Slack on November 1: 05:41, 13:03, 19:24, 22:46.
Predictions for the pass itself, not the water around it. Slack shifts about 50 minutes later each day, so these times are wrong for any other date. The Tidal Currents panel above gives every turn with its maximum-flow speed; CHS is the source.
Regulations
Vancouver Harbour lies in DFO Pacific Area 28. Openings, closures and limits change in-season and differ between subareas, so check the DFO Area 28 recreational fishing page before you go. Nothing on this page is a substitute for the current regulations, official charts, or the marine forecast.
As of November 1, 2026, seven closure areas are in effect in DFO Pacific Area 28, among them Night closure area, Point Atkinson and Porteau Cove. Salmon limits for the area: chinook 2 per day; chum 4 per day; coho 2 per day in 28-1 to 28-10, non retention in 28-11 to 28-14; pink 4 per day; sockeye non retention.
Read from the DFO Area 28 page, last updated 2026-10-20. See the full Area 28 regulations for every closure and limits table, or the Fishery Notices for changes newer than that date.