A Vancouver Island artist’s work will be featured on next year’s Salmon Enhancement Stamp.
The stamps are an optional purchase for BC anglers when they buy fishing licences, which allows them to keep their catch. All money raised from the stamps goes to the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF), which puts it towards salmon enhancement and habitat restoration.
Next year’s stamp features spawning sockeye salmon in a stream, a piece called “Red October.” It was created by Tofino artist Mark Hobson and it’s the fifth time his work has been selected for the annual stamp.
Hobson, a former biologist and science teacher, says the inspiration for his latest artwork came from snorkeling with the salmon in the Taylor River near Port Alberni.
“It feels good to be contributing to this ongoing work by celebrating the beauty of a group of spawning sockeye,” he says in a news release from the PSF.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of anglers contribute to salmon conservation by purchasing the $6.89 Salmon Stamp, which is required to retain any species of Pacific salmon.
Through its Community Salmon Program, PSF has directed $29 million to more than 3,300 community- and Indigenous-led projects across BC and the Yukon, with a total value of roughly $202 million.
To see the other entries in this year’s stamp art contest, visit the PSF’s website.
