People for salmon
Meet Farlyn Campbell, Salmon Stamp Artist
Photo credits: Tavish Campbell – Moonfish Media, Chelsea Pope
Farlyn Campbell spent years catching and monitoring salmon from the deck of a boat before they began appearing in her sketchbook. An experienced skipper, salmon fisher, and researcher based in the Discovery Islands, Campbell is also the artist behind the 2026-27 Salmon Conservation Stamp.
“Taking the time to observe and draw the salmon accurately is my way of honouring them,” says Campbell, a first-time Salmon Stamp Competition participant and winner. “There is beauty in the details, which highlight how incredible these fish are.”
The anatomical drawing and watercolour painting of a large spring Chinook – Smiley – was inspired by a childhood fishing trip photo.
Starting April 1, hundreds of thousands of anglers will purchase the stamp to catch and retain Pacific salmon. The stamp generates $1.5 million in revenue, which PSF amplifies with donor support to fund more than 150 community-led salmon conservation initiatives every year.
A lifetime around salmon
Campbell grew up in a fishing family in Owen Bay on Sonora Island, where chum, pink, and Fraser River sockeye pass through the Okisollo Channel year-round.
“Sleeping down on the dock in the summer, we’d often hear the salmon smolts flipping as they held in the bay, waiting for the tide to turn,” she says.
In the early 2000s, Campbell joined research efforts to monitor juvenile salmon for sea lice and disease throughout the Discovery Islands area. Her hands-on fieldwork in collaboration with many scientists – including PSF staff – has helped track the impacts of Atlantic salmon open-net pen farms on wild Pacific salmon as they migrate to sea.
The data they collected was key in contributing to the removal of farms from the Discovery Islands between 2020 and 2021. This January, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld the decision to keep salmon farms out of the Discovery Islands.
“The field is changing fast,” Campbell says. “What’s exciting is knowing the data is being used in a lot of different ways to better understand what these fish are facing.”
As open-net salmon farms are phased out from B.C.’s coastal waters, PSF will continue to work closely with researchers like Campbell to monitor juvenile salmon and track environmental conditions around former farm sites through 2028.
Bridging art, community, and conservation
This past fall, an unexpectedly strong return of Fraser River sockeye and renewed fisheries openings allowed Campbell to go fishing with her family and neighbours for the first time in years.
“The declines have been discouraging,” she says, “but the story of salmon is vast and it’s far from over. The recent large returns are a reminder that salmon are far more resilient than we give them credit for.”
Since 1994, PSF has leveraged stamp funds on behalf of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, directing nearly $32 million to more than 3,600 community-led restoration, enhancement, and stewardship projects. Their impact is further amplified through generous donor support.
Against this backdrop, Campbell’s hope is that the new stamp offers a moment of optimism in a difficult time for salmon and those who care about them.
“Salmon connect people across generations, to place and to each other. The stamp is a way to celebrate that and encourage people to think about salmon conservation.”
