Alan Haig-Brown learned to swim in the 1950s, among the humpback salmon in the Campbell River. He seined salmon and herring until 1973, and served for eleven years as coordinator of Indian education in the Cariboo-Chilcotin. Haig-Brown became editor of the West Coast Fisherman in 1986 and later founded The West Coast Mariner and The West Coast Logger. His award-winning books for Harbour Publishing include Fishing for a Living and The Fraser River.