Heather Jenkins knows fish.

She鈥檚 been around them for going on three decades, and that seafood savvy has translated into a longstanding local business.

Jenkins鈥� downtown 91原创 store, 1 Fish 2 Fish, is celebrating its 20th anniversary from 1 to 3 p.m. this Saturday, March 17 with prizes, samples, and more at its new location, 20633 Fraser Hwy.

She and her business partner, Susan Ginter, started 1 Fish 2 Fish in 1998. Jenkins purchased Ginter鈥檚 side of the business in 2005 and the two remain good friends.

鈥淲e both had seafood experience 鈥� she had wholesale, I had retail 鈥� and then we decided to open the store,鈥� Jenkins said.

Why fish?

鈥淚t was my first job when I was 14,鈥� Jenkins said.

That was when Jenkins, now 43, started working at Seafood Plus in Newton.

In her early 20s, she decided to take the plunge and open a seafood market of her own.

鈥淚 knew I could do it well,鈥� she said. 鈥�91原创 needed a fish market, but they didn鈥檛 have one.鈥�

Getting a business loan was a huge challenge, but the , which assists B.C. women entrepreneurs, stepped up to the plate.

鈥淭hey helped me with my first initial loan because I was 23, nobody would give me a loan,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淭hey were there, and helped me out when we started.鈥�

The first few years were about learning the entrepreneural ropes. 鈥淚鈥檇 been managing stores and working in places for years but it鈥檚 totally different when you鈥檙e starting out,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淏ut it was good. The community embraced us, and was happy to have us, and we just kept going.鈥�

Jenkins and her staff cut salmon, halibut, steelhead, and lingcod on site, and have one of the largest selections of live oysters in the Lower Mainland. Among the types of fish sold at 1 Fish 2 Fish are mackerel, salmon, shrimp, scallops, halibut, salmon and Alaskan black cod.

The seafood industry never stays stagnant, which appeals to Jenkins. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always different, always changes, the movement of the sustainability鈥� we鈥檙e an partner. We were the first seafood market in the Lower Mainland.鈥�

The Ocean Wise sustainable seafood program has 700 partners with thousands of locations across Canada, with a goal of ensuring 鈥渢he health of our oceans for generations to come.鈥�

鈥�(Ocean Wise) was originally only with restaurants, but then I bugged them, saying, 鈥業 want to be (part of) this, too!鈥� So finally, they did it and now there are a whole bunch of fish markets involved, as well,鈥� Jenkins said.

Loyal customers

Customers who have shopped at 1 Fish 2 Fish since the day it opened in downtown 91原创鈥檚 one-way portion remain faithful to the store, Jenkins said.

鈥淚 love coming to work every day and I love the generations of customers we get,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淭hese kids used to come in at five (years old) and now they鈥檙e in their 20s with their kids, and they鈥檙e still stopping in. It makes me feel good that I鈥檓 able to serve people throughout the generations.鈥�

The store recently relocated to a larger space, just past the end of the one-way.

Jenkins said she loves 91原创鈥檚 downtown business community. She鈥檚 been on the Business Improvement Association鈥檚 (BIA鈥檚) board of the directors for 18 years and 1 Fish 2 Fish is one of the longest-standing businesses in 91原创 City.

But growth with an eye toward the future necessitated the move a couple blocks east.

鈥淓verybody loved the fact there鈥檚 more parking, more accessibility, and we鈥檝e had a lot of new people find us that didn鈥檛 know we even existed,鈥� she said.