Mark Hobson, an award-winning artist from Tofino, B.C., has won the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s (PSF) annual Salmon Conservation Stamp Competition.
His painting, Chinook Salmon: Breaking Through, depicts two chinooks in shallow water as they return to freshwater at the end of their third summer at sea. The design topped 12 other entries to adorn the 2021-22 stamp all anglers must purchase and affix to their saltwater fishing licence to retain any Pacific salmon species.
The federal government directs all revenue from the stamp’s sale to the PSF for salmon restoration and conservation projects. Since 1989, when the PSF launched the salmon conservation stamp (originally known as the “chinook conservation stamp”), the group has received $18.2 million for nearly 2,700 salmon projects across British Columbia.
The first PSF conservation stamp was issued in 1989 and features a design by Robert Field.
With a focus on Pacific coast landscapes and wildlife, Hobson’s art has also graced the PSF’s conservation stamp in 2003, 2005 and 2010, and he has designed collector coins for the Royal Canadian Mint.
In addition to his art, Hobson is a professional biologist and science teacher.