Crews are investigating a sheen on the Fraser River near the area of what appears to be asubmerged vessel.

Few details have been confirmed, but a shiny substance could be seen on the river's surface near Donatelli Avenue and Lougheed Highway in Mission Friday.

Sources told CTV News that the boat was an old weather ship from California, and that it started to sink on Thursday afternoon. It was called in early by a local fisherman, who said he only got action after contacting CTV.

"What was disturbing was the phone calls and stuff from the media was quick, but the emergency response was very, very slow," Brian McKinlay, from Silversides Fishing Adventures, told CTV.

"We have a bunch of government people telling us that we have these world-class spill response teams, but we're not seeing that."

Fisheries and Oceans Canada said crews are still trying to determine exactly what the sheen is, and where it's coming from. The province did an assessment from land to try to figure out the source, and Transport Canada planned to fly over the river to examine the size of the spill.

The layer of pollutant is estimated to be less than 0.005 millimetres deep, a spokesperson from the Canadian Coast Guard said.

She said the Coast Guard recieves reports of sheens on the waters surrounding Vancouver on a daily basis, and added that they're tried to get in touch with the boat's owner.

"The apparent owner of the vessel is unwilling to respond," she said. 

In the owner's absence, the Coast Guard is working with the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation to organize a response. It is not yet known whether the product will be recoverable, but crews were sent to the scene with environmental response equipment.