Rob Tryon, pictured in Edmonton on Aug. 31.Amber Bracken/The Globe and Mail
Most people don't grow up on the west coast of Canada with dreams of opening a seafood company only to wind up in land-locked Edmonton. Then again, most people aren't Rob Tryon.
Growing up on Vancouver Island, Mr. Tryon was always surrounded by the world of seafood. Whether that meant watching his father's boat come in and out of the harbour with his daily catch or seeing the many oyster farm set-ups scattered around the island and coast of British Columbia.
As he got older, his love for the oceans led him to Vancouver Island University's fisheries and aquaculture program. Following that, he began a career as an oyster farmer in Effingham Inlet (the area which inspired his company's name, Effing Seafood), just past Ucluelet and worked there for more than a decade.
After a change in focus in a need to provide better for his two young girls, Mr. Tryon left the industry for a few years, working all over Alberta in different oil fields. As lucrative as the job was, the terribly long hours and here-and-there nature of the work left him thinking longingly about getting back into the seafood-supply world.
On Oct. 1, 2015, enough was enough: Mr. Tryon decided to start placing some roots in Edmonton and Effing Seafood came to life. As the company's popularity rises in the Edmonton area, it's also helping to combat that age-old myth that one should be wary of enjoying "fresh" seafood in land-locked cities like we have here in Alberta.
"It's crazy how many people still make those comments," he says. "I always just cheekily point out that we do have airplanes that can get those kinds of things over to us here in Alberta quite quickly," Mr. Tryon says.
In a lot of cases, "quickly" can be an understatement. Plenty of things, such as west coast halibut, in-season spot prawns and mussels and clams can be caught, processed, packed, shipped and arrive the same day.
Give a seafood-supply company such as Effing Seafood a few hours to unpack and a customer can have something that was just pulled from the ocean as part of their dinner menu in anywhere from 24 to 48 hours. It's an efficient transport process that benefits anyone, home cook or otherwise, who Mr. Tryon deals with.
This passion for a connection to sustainability and authenticity has resulted in Mr. Tryon travelling all over, most recently to Iceland to scout out seafood producers. Naturally, he makes plenty of trips out to the west coast, but also ventures further afield. Last year, he trekked all the way up to Iceland to meet with different fisheries to see if their guidelines in terms of processing and environmental impact were in line with his own.
"I don't bring in a lot from the east coast just yet because I'm all about traceability and I haven't made the trip back there as of yet to see the facilities that the fish are going through, meet people and make those those connections."
As sustainability awareness grows in the Canadian food community, Mr. Tryon notices more and more consumers are coming by his stand at the St. Albert Farmers' Market looking for guidance.
"It's always important to get food from people that you trust and know and I bring in a lot of fish that many people have never heard of," Mr. Tryon says. "They just trust that they're getting the best quality, the most sustainable and something great that they can serve to people."
Effing Seafood may be the fastest-growing supplier in the province, but it is just one of Alberta's highly touted. In Calgary, restaurants look to Meta4Foods, owned by seafood aficionado Eric Giesbrecht, as well as a larger supplier, City Fish. Based in Sherwood Park just outside of Edmonton, Fin's Seafood also places a strong emphasis on environmental awareness when it comes to the underwater proteins it offers to culinary professionals.
Sustainable-seafood advocate and Ocean Wise's executive chef Ned Bell was recently in Edmonton taking part in a collaborative dinner with four other Western Canadian chefs. Each chef used a variety of sustainable bounty sourced through Fin's Seafood. The Vancouver-based chef is always impressed to see the evolution of accessibility to these kinds of proteins in the prairies.
"I love the fishermen, chefs, retailers and suppliers that dive deep into their opportunity to catch, raise and source wild, well managed fish, shellfish and seafood," Mr. Bell says matter-of-factly.
As Mr. Tryon's business continues to grow and evolve, the passionate supplier is determined to stay true to his nonpareil baseline of allowing customers and restaurant clients to discover the best of what the world's oceans offer.
"I know I only offer the best and I tell prospective suppliers that. No exceptions," he says. "I never want to introduce people to a lesser-grade product. I plan on always giving people the most phenomenal seafood I can get my hands on and then hopefully they keep coming back for more."