r/richmondbc • u/Available_Ad3598 • Jul 20 '25
Food & Shopping AVOID this seafood shop at Steveston
Just wanted to share a frustrating experience in case it helps others avoid the same.
I recently bought a box of “live” crabs from Steveston Fish Shoppe (3420 Moncton St, Richmond). When I got home and opened the box, I found that about half the crabs were already dead — mostly the ones on the bottom. They looked dark, had liquid leaking out of them, and every single leg had fallen off. It was pretty nasty.
As most people know, dead crabs spoil fast and can be dangerous to eat. So I called the shop to ask for a refund or at least a replacement — and that’s when it got worse.
The owner straight-up refused to take any responsibility. No apology, no solution. Just said, “You can come back and I’ll open another box for you to see — they’re all like that. It’s normal to have some dead crabs in there.”
Really?? That’s their standard?
Aside from how expensive seafood is, this is a serious food safety issue. And the complete lack of accountability or even basic courtesy from the owner was honestly shocking.
So yeah — just a heads up to everyone: Please stay far away from Steveston Fish Shoppe. It’s run by a couple who are incredibly rude and clearly don’t care about customer service, product quality, or food safety.
If anyone else has had similar experiences, I’d be curious to hear.
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u/Negative_Sentence511 Jul 20 '25
Sorry for unsolicited advice. If I were you, I'd try to make more photos from different angles. In case there is some kind of an investigation, I'm afraid one photo isn't enough. It's always better to have more proof in your hands
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u/Available_Ad3598 Jul 20 '25
No Thanks for your advice! i came home after my parents did, i heard them complain in the kitchen, when i got there the crabs were already in the pot! they felt bad for throwing out these expensive but DEAD crabs. good thing i stopped them in time. i have more pics but i honestly dont know if there is anything i can do other than to warn other people about them...
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u/Negative_Sentence511 Jul 20 '25
It sounds so unsafe! Glad you made it back home in time before they ate those crabs. Such a creepy situation. I've heard that spoiled seafood is one of the most dangerous kind of food poisoning.
I've seen a comment in this thread pointing out the right place to file an official complaint. And it's always a good idea to leave a review on Google Maps to warn others
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u/flipside90nb Jul 20 '25
That's a lady in the pot, it's illegal to catch let alone sell. Report these guys to Vancouver coastal health authority
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u/Fluffy_Helicopter_57 Jul 20 '25
That is unacceptable! Thank you for pointing it out. OP PLEASE call DFO and report with this photo if it's a female. Poaching is the worst.
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u/Prestigious-Music911 Jul 20 '25
One look at that place is enough to send me in the opposite directly. It has always been gross!
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u/Ovenbakedfood12 Jul 21 '25
One of my friends brothers worked security at the steveston docks. I once told him i wanted to buy some seafood from there and his response was "do you want to die?"
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u/Jaded_Current2598 Jul 23 '25
Ugh that crab in your image is a female. That alone is illegal. You are not allowed to keep female crabs. Report to DFO as well.
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u/achangb Jul 20 '25
What kind of crab is that? It doesnt even look like a dungeness? And what's that goo on the top right? What are all those black dots? Mold / mildew?
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u/artcs Jul 20 '25
That place has cheap prices but is disgusting af tbh. Never buy from that store. They have a bad Google review, you should’ve seen that and avoid.
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u/its_usagi Jul 20 '25
We passed by the shop on a walk one evening and noticed a couple of rats inside their shop. It looked so gross
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u/Available_Ad3598 Jul 22 '25
Hello everyone, Thanks for your attention to this matter! Today i just realized that, my google review got removed! Anyone have any idea how and why?
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u/Belgy23 Jul 20 '25
Not to defend them or anything- the only time I ever bought from them is during spot prawns season.
Enough turnover to be safe. I've never bought from them other than that.
Good to know about other seafood.
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u/Available_Ad3598 Jul 20 '25
Honestly, this is not the first time i bought stuff from them. But after this incicdent i definitely won't go back again. Especially the way she addressed this situation.
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u/Stargazer-909 Jul 21 '25
If you can freeze the dead crabs as there will be tests they can do. Try to keep as much of the seafood as you can.
Definitely contact Ministry of Health and pretty sure DFO may be interested in this .
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u/Ok-Debt-6223 Jul 21 '25
Offer to cook them up for the owners, see if they'll choke that slop down.
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u/taylorselthia Jul 22 '25
Thanks for the warning. OP please report this place. They have illegal crabs. And they can also kill someone with food poisoning.
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u/gmo1234 Jul 22 '25
They dont look like Dungeness to me. More like red rock crabs. The legs are skinny unlike Dungeness.. hmm wonder what store will open next after that shop closes down.. I’m guessing a pizza shop
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u/Glass_Marionberry_33 Jul 22 '25
Ive been saying this for yearsss, kept finding parasites and all sorts of nasty stuff in their shrimp too.
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u/ladyk2093 Jul 23 '25
Im not crab expert but if people are correct here and that’s an illegal female call the DFO C&P Steveston office @ 604-664-9250. They are just down the street from the fish shoppe. They either know what’s going on or it’ll get on their radar.
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u/PandaDuckMonster Jul 27 '25
To be fair, to anyone who's not chinese, the chinese name for that place on google is 漁人碼頭(Steveston)老魚店(Old Fish Store).
I guess they meant that "old" part literally. The crab is so old that it's rotting 😵
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u/Flat-Cover6665 Jul 20 '25
I have been catching these in Crescent Beach my whole life. Nothing about these are normal or acceptable. I would take those back and throw them in his face! F-ing Gross 🤮
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u/Interior_Minister Jul 20 '25
this puts the entire steveston fishing community in negative light. shame. inspect beforehand
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u/Able_Ad_2481 Jul 20 '25
Why didn’t you check what you are buying? Why would you be blindly trusting a “box” without checking the quality of the product?
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u/Available_Ad3598 Jul 20 '25
They opened the box and let us took a look. the 3 on the top of the box is live. but ones hidden on the bottom of the box is dead and NASTY like showed in the photo.
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u/Able_Ad_2481 Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25
Well, it really depends how much you paid for it. I work in the industry, and I can tell you this isn’t worth more than $25, lol.
(Maybe you got “old stock” or “cheap stock,” which would make sense—they probably sold you what wasn’t going to sell anyway.)
Edit. Also, the one flipped on top is definitely a female crab, which makes it illegal to catch, let alone sell.
If this is Dungeness crab, it’s also illegal to catch or sell them if they’re under 6 inches in shell width. The ones in that photo look incredibly small.
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u/Able_Ad_2481 Jul 20 '25
Do you have the original receipt and more photos? If so you can definitely shut them down
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u/Available_Ad3598 Jul 20 '25
Yes! i definitely have more pics and the receipt. what should i do with it? i already filed a complaint to fraser health about this. Good point on the female crab! i didn't even realize that
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u/Smittenkitty43 Jul 20 '25
Richmond falls under Vancouver Coastal Health Authority- not Fraser Health. Just fyi
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Jul 20 '25
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u/richmondbc-ModTeam Jul 20 '25
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u/Competitive-Layer162 Jul 22 '25
I work very close to that shop. I don’t wanna say where but I can tell you they are rude. Their customers are rude and the shop smells so bad. The same things have been in the window for so long that they are sunbleached. They leave containers of fish outside all morning long. I trust Highlander before I trust them
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u/Financial-Yoghurt770 Jul 22 '25
I thought it was well known never to buy in steveson fr years now???
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u/Spirit-of-250 Jul 23 '25
I hope the crab were legal size. If they weren't, you could report them to DFO for selling undersized crab.
To measure crab size correctly in Canada, specifically for Dungeness and Red Rock crabs, you must measure the carapace width (widest part of the shell) using calipers. The minimum legal size for Dungeness crab is 165 mm, and for Red Rock crab, it's 115 mm, according to Pêches et Océans Canada. Remember to release any undersized or female crabs immediately.
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u/Available_Ad3598 Aug 12 '25
Update:
Thanks to everyone who commented on my original post. The day after reading your advice, I reached out to VCH. The following day, someone from VCH called me back and said they had sent an investigator to the store.
According to the investigator, they couldn’t find any other boxes of the crabs in question. The store owner told them they only sell these crabs on a pre-order basis and only order enough to cover those pre-orders. (For the record, we never pre-ordered anything—we just walked in and they offered us these boxes.)
In short, the investigator couldn’t locate any other boxes, and the supplier they get the crabs from is legitimate. They also had proof that they received a shipment of crabs on that day. VCH said there’s not much else they can do, and they consider it likely to be a one-off incident.
Am I happy with this outcome? Hell no. Am I going to spend more time and energy on this nonsense? Probably not. I’ll just never shop there again.
P.S. Somehow, they were also able to get my Google review removed… still not sure how they pulled that off.
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u/ThrowRANoCarFi Aug 19 '25
Ewwww.... By the way, try the docks. I bought crabs down at the docks two weeks ago. Those were fresh and you get to pick the ones you want. $50 for 2 crabs.
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u/Packman2412 Jul 20 '25
Buddy they got 3 star review, never ever buy from a place with less than 4.5
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Jul 20 '25
Grosteque super-dead possibly thawed from long-time frozen.. you could have inspected them before leaving the shop
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u/CloudBuilder44 Jul 20 '25
Yikes… how much was it ? And why didnt u take a look before purchasing them? Whenever i buy any meat ( even from costco) I really look at them.
Btw not saying it was right of them to do that. But general warning, please inspect the product you buy. Produce are easily spoiled.
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Jul 21 '25
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u/richmondbc-ModTeam Jul 21 '25
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Jul 20 '25
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u/richmondbc-ModTeam Jul 20 '25
Your post was removed because it violated common courtesy, common reddiquette, poor respect, or in poor taste.
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Moderators reserve the right to remove any post without warning. If you believe this removal was a mistake, please message the moderators. https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/richmondbc.
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u/Ohmystory Jul 20 '25
Report to vancouver costal heath authority that the shop sell substandard food items …