Canada: The North Pacific Cannery museum provides a glimpse of north America's fishing industry

Standing on the dock of the North Pacific Cannery, on an arm of Canada's Skeena River, all I can see is tranquillity. The still silver waters are a mirror, reflecting the trees and snow-capped mountains of this remote part of British Columbia near the border with Alaska.

What's boggling my imagination is the contrast between the serene vista and its reality a century before. In those days a thriving salmon fishing industry centred on the facility, and it would have been a busy, smelly, messy place at odds with the beautiful surrounds.

In the days before widespread refrigeration, industrial-scale fishing was about speed and location. In 1889, the North Pacific Cannery was built to handle every aspect of processing the region's sockeye salmon – boats would rush their catch to its dock, where workers cleaned and butchered the fish, which ended up in cans created and sealed onsite.

The workers came from different ethnic groups, comprising Japanese, Chinese, Europeans and local First Nations people. Though they were quartered separately, their diversity hinted at the multicultural Canada of the future.

Canning ceased in 1968, and fishing in 1981 – but the complex has been reinvented as a museum, the North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site.

There's nothing I like more than an industrial heritage attraction. Travellers have traditionally swooned over the beauty of stately homes and soaring cathedrals, but an industrial museum allows a glimpse into the lives of everyday people, and the technology that made possible their often difficult jobs.

This cannery is a fine example, largely intact from its heyday. Its focal point is the main building where canning took place, right down to the final touches of packaging and labelling. Signage explains the equipment still in place, and how it worked.

This area connects to the vast working dock where the catch was unloaded, a space of nearly 4000 square metres that would have seen frantic activity. Nowadays it's a great vantage point from which to enjoy the riverine scenery, and leads to the former machine shop and net loft that can be visited on a guided tour.