Month: July 2023

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UAF Cooperative Extension Service to host ‘Sitka Salmonganza’ classes on using salmon

SitkaSalmonganza

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service will host its “Sitka Salmonganza” on Sunday through Tuesday, July 30 to Aug. 1, at various locations in Sitka.

Classes about how to use and preserve will be taught by Sarah Lewis, a Juneau-based Cooperative Extension agent. Preregistration is requested so we have enough ingredients and supplies for everyone. Register at https://bit.ly/salmonganza

Sunday, July 30, 1-7 p.m. Salmon Social: Sitkaʼs summer parties require salmon and salmonberries. In this hands-on workshop you will learn to safely pressure can salmon and waterbath can berry syrup. Youʼll also learn ways to use canned salmon for party dishes and make salmonberry soda. All experience levels welcome, all ingredients and supplies included. Sitka Lutheran Church kitchen (224 Lincoln St., enter from back of church but use street parking), Fee: $35 per person. Free for Southeast tribe members and youth under 16 (attending with an adult).

Monday, July 31, Noon-1 p.m. Salmon Nutrition: Discover the healing benefits and uses of salmon, seeds, and oils. The discussion will include a variety of topics including inflammation, omega fatty acids, and cooking oils. We will be using videoconferencing technology to tie-in instructor Audra Henderson but meet as a group in person. Sitka’s Harrigan Centennial Hall. Free.

Monday, July 31, 5-7 p.m. Family Meals with Canned Salmon: In this hands-on workshop you will learn to cook creative family dishes with delicious and healthy canned salmon. All ages and experience levels welcome, all ingredients and supplies included. Blatchley Middle School Home Ec Room. Fee: $20 per person. Free for Southeast tribe members and youth under 16 (attending with an adult).

Tuesday, Aug. 1, Noon-1 p.m. Smoking and Canning Salmon Basics: In this class you will learn basic techniques for smoking fish at home and how to safely pressure can it for delicious meals all year. Sitka Public Library. Free.

Tuesday, Aug. 1, 5-7 p.m. Saucy Pickled Salmon: In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to pickle fish and make a few sauces. Impress your friends and family this summer with fancy fish dishes, no need to tell them how easy it was! Blatchley Middle School Home Ec Room. Fee: $20 per person. Free for Southeast tribe members and youth under 16 (attending with an adult).

For more information, contact Sarah Lewis at sarah.lewis@alaska.edu or call 907-455-2010.

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Kayaaní Commission to host July 31 open meeting and Aug. 2 annual meeting and potluck

Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s Kayaaní Commission will be holding an open meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, July 31. This will be a hybrid meeting, so you can attend in person at the STA office at 204 Siginaka Way or via Zoom. The public is invited to attend.

In addition, the Kayanní Commission will host its annual meeting and potluck from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 2, at Harrigan Centennial Hall. This event is open to all, and everyone is encouraged to bring a local dish to share.

The Kayaaní Commission is a group of knowledgeable community members and tribal citizens who are concerned with preserving and protecting plants and the traditional ways they use.

Questions, please contact Megan Wright at Megan.Wright@sitkatribe-nsn.gov or call 907-747-7111.

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Sitka-based fishing group, Bristol Bay community members collect more than 5,000 pounds of donated salmon for Yukon and Chignik communities 

Cody Larson of Bristol Bay Native Association and Sitka’s Ben Blakey of Northline Seafoods show some of the donated salmon to Dillingham children. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA).

DILLINGHAM, Alaska — In June, Dillingham-area residents harvested and collected more than 5,000 pounds of subsistence-caught sockeye salmon that will be distributed to families in the Yukon and Chignik river areas unable to harvest their own local salmon due to low salmon returns.

The salmon donation was coordinated through the Sitka-based Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association’s (ALFA) Seafood Distribution Network with the help of local partners, including Northline Seafoods, Bristol Bay Native Association, Grant Aviation, and Bristol Bay Native Corporation.

In June, before Bristol Bay’s commercial fishery opened, local Dillingham residents helped ALFA collect subsistence salmon from families who were fishing at Dillingham’s Kanakanak Beach. Sitka-based Northline Seafoods — a new seafood processor in Bristol Bay that specializes in processing and freezing whole fish — helped oversee the cleaning and freezing of the salmon. The salmon was frozen whole in response to requests from Yukon and Chignik communities for whole fish so that they could fully use the salmon and practice their food traditions. In addition, each salmon was labeled with the name of the family that donated it.

In the coming weeks, Grant Aviation will help fly the salmon to Yukon and Chignik villages, including Alakanuk, Pitkas Point, Saint Mary’s, Chignik Lagoon, and Chignik Bay. The fish will also be used by the Yukon River Drainage Fishermen’s Association Educational Exchange program where several youth will travel to communities on the Yukon and share their experiences around salmon.

“This salmon donation project was a bit of an experiment for us; we didn’t know how many people would be willing to contribute a portion of their subsistence harvest for families that they didn’t know. When people heard that we were collecting salmon for the Yukon and Chigniks, they jumped at the chance to contribute and help other Alaskans — especially those who depend on subsistence for their diet and culture. We were thrilled by the positive responses and were able to collect our target of 5,000 pounds of salmon much quicker than anticipated,” said Natalie Sattler, program director for the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association. “We couldn’t have done it without the generous support of our partners, especially Bristol Bay Native Association, Grant Aviation, and Northline Seafoods.”

“Our company was first approached in 2020 to help address the growing shortage of salmon in Alaska’s rural communities and have been involved in the Seafood Distribution Network ever since. Making sure local Alaskans have access to high quality seafood is incredibly important to us and we are committed to supporting the Network’s ongoing efforts to build the infrastructure and distribution systems needed to improve the resiliency and sustainability of Alaska’s local food system,” CEO of Northline Seafoods Ben Blakey said. 

“At a time when so many communities are struggling with low salmon returns and facing another summer of empty smokehouses and freezers, I am filled with hope to see local, grassroots efforts like this salmon donation project in Dillingham. This project not only embodies what subsistence is all about, but it is also an example of Alaskans at their best: sharing and taking care of each other during times of need. Low salmon abundance is an issue that needs to be addressed at every level, from the federal government down to individual communities, and efforts like this are an important piece of that larger goal, ” Alaska U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola said.

The Seafood Distribution Network emerged through ALFA’s Seafood Donation Program, which was started in March 2020 in response to COVID-19 and its impacts on local fisheries and families. Since then, ALFA’s Seafood Donation Program has provided more than 645,000 donated Alaska seafood meals to families experiencing food insecurity in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

With funding from the USDA, ALFA is currently undergoing a Regional Food System Partnership planning process in which it will develop a more long-term plan for the Seafood Distribution Network and future seafood donation efforts.

• Seabank, the 2022 annual report of the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust

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Sitka Planning Commission to discuss community gardens proposal at Wednesday meeting

The Sitka Planning Commission will hear testimony on a lease request to build two community gardens on city land during its meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 19, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

Transition Sitka and the Sitka Local Foods Network are jointly making the proposal, which would build Sitka’s first true community gardens since Blatchley Community Garden closed in 2016. The proposal will build two community gardens, one off Osprey Street behind the Vilandre Park ballfield next to Blatchley Middle School and a garden off the top of the Jarvis Street hill near where the new village of tiny homes for the homeless will be built.

“These gardens will fill a big food security need in our community, since we have a lot of people who live on boats or in apartments where they don’t have gardening space,” Sitka Local Foods Network board president Charles Bingham said. “When we worked on the Sitka Comprehensive Plan 2030, building new community gardens was listed as a major goal for the near future.”

There was a town hall on July 10 to discuss the proposal, which was moderated by the Sitka Planning and Community Development Department. KCAW did a morning interview before the town hall, and the Daily Sitka Sentinel wrote a story about the meeting (paywall).

For more information, go to https://transitionsitka.org/projects/sitka-food/sitka-community-gardens/ or call project coordinator Joel Hanson at 907-747-9834.

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Ian Dempster of Sitka Nuts wins table of the day award at second Sitka Farmers Market

PHOTO COURTESY OF SITKA LOCAL FOODS NETWORK
TABLE OF THE DAY AWARD: Sitka Farmers Market manager Anastasia Stefanowicz, center, presents Ian Dempster of Sitka Nuts, right, and his assistant, Gabe Thurman, left, with the Table of the Day Award for the second Sitka Farmers Market of the season, on Saturday, July 15, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall. Ian and Gabe sold roasted and candied almonds, pecans, and cashews at the market. They received a certificate, a SLFN totebag, Sitka Farmers Market chocolate bars (from Theobroma), a jar of marinara sauce from Foraged and Found, a bottle of Moosetard BBQ sauce, a jar of Barnacle hot sauce, some cream of barley cereal from Alaska Flour Company, some rhubarb, some salad mix, and other prizes. The next Sitka Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 29, at ANB Founders Hall, and potential vendors are reminded they need to register at https://sitkafarmersmarket.eventsmart.com by the Thursday before each market if they want a table. Other markets are scheduled for Aug. 12, Aug. 26, Sept. 9, and Sept. 23. For more information about the markets and the host Sitka Local Foods Network, go to http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org.
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Scenes from the first Sitka Farmers Market of the 2023 summer

PHOTO COURTESY OF SITKA LOCAL FOODS NETWORK
TABLE OF THE DAY AWARD: Sitka Farmers Market volunteer Chase Roth, left, and Sitka Local Foods Network board member Edie Leghorn, right, present Carissa Cullins of CC’s Berries with the Table of the Day Award for the first Sitka Farmers Market of the season, on Saturday, July 1, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall. Carissa sold a variety of hand-dipped chocolate-covered strawberries. She received a certificate, a SLFN totebag, Sitka Farmers Market chocolate bars (from Theobroma), some cinnamon muffin mix from Alaska Flour Company, some rhubarb, and other prizes. The next Sitka Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 15, at ANB Founders Hall, and potential vendors are reminded they need to register at https://sitkafarmersmarket.eventsmart.com by the Thursday before each market if they want a table. Other markets are scheduled for July 29, Aug. 12, Aug. 26, Sept. 9, and Sept. 23. For more information about the markets and the host Sitka Local Foods Network, go to http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org.

It was gray and drizzly for the first Sitka Farmers Market of the 2023 season, our 16th summer. This market, on Saturday, July 1, had a small number of vendors registered, so all of the vendors were moved inside the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall, where the first 13 years of Sitka Farmers Markets were held.

We appreciate everybody who made this market season a success, especially all of our vendors, volunteers, and our customers who wore masks to help prevent the spread of Covid-19. Right now masks are optional since Sitka’s Covid-19 risk is low, but if the city’s Covid-19 risk level is high, we require masks inside ANB Hall. If the city’s Covid-19 risk is medium, we recommend people wear masks inside.

We didn’t have as many booths as in previous years, but the smaller markets seemed to have worked. We still had fresh local produce, as well as a variety of Alaska Grown value-added products, cooked food, and arts and crafts. The Sitka Local Foods Network farm stand accepts and matches WIC coupons and SNAP EBT benefits.

Our markets the rest of the season are from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, July 15, 29, Aug. 12, 26, Sept. 9, and 23, at the ANB Founders Hall, 235 Katlian Street. Potential vendors can register and pay their vendor fees by going to https://sitkafarmersmarket.eventsmart.com. More information about the Sitka Local Foods Network and Sitka Farmers Market can be found at http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org.

A slideshow of scenes from the first market of the summer is posted below.

  • PHOTO COURTESY OF SITKA LOCAL FOODS NETWORK TABLE OF THE DAY AWARD: Sitka Farmers Market volunteer Chase Roth, left, and Sitka Local Foods Network board member Edie Leghorn, right, present Carissa Cullins of CC’s Berries with the Table of the Day Award for the first Sitka Farmers Market of the season, on Saturday, July 1, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall. Carissa sold a variety of hand-dipped chocolate-covered strawberries. She received a certificate, a SLFN totebag, Sitka Farmers Market chocolate bars (from Theobroma), some cinnamon muffin mix from Alaska Flour Company, some rhubarb, and other prizes. The next Sitka Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 15, at ANB Founders Hall, and potential vendors are reminded they need to register at https://sitkafarmersmarket.eventsmart.com by the Thursday before each market if they want a table. Other markets are scheduled for July 29, Aug. 12, Aug. 26, Sept. 9, and Sept. 23. For more information about the markets and the host Sitka Local Foods Network, go to http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org.
  • PHOTO COURTESY OF SITKA LOCAL FOODS NETWORK TABLE OF THE DAY AWARD: Sitka Farmers Market volunteer Chase Roth, left, and Sitka Local Foods Network board member Edie Leghorn, right, present Carissa Cullins of CC’s Berries with the Table of the Day Award for the first Sitka Farmers Market of the season, on Saturday, July 1, at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Founders Hall. Carissa sold a variety of hand-dipped chocolate-covered strawberries. She received a certificate, a SLFN totebag, Sitka Farmers Market chocolate bars (from Theobroma), some cinnamon muffin mix from Alaska Flour Company, some rhubarb, and other prizes. The next Sitka Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 15, at ANB Founders Hall, and potential vendors are reminded they need to register at https://sitkafarmersmarket.eventsmart.com by the Thursday before each market if they want a table. Other markets are scheduled for July 29, Aug. 12, Aug. 26, Sept. 9, and Sept. 23. For more information about the markets and the host Sitka Local Foods Network, go to http://www.sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org.
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Sitka Tribe of Alaska to host Little Clam Camp on July 10-13

The Sitka Tribe of Alaska Resource Protection Department will host its Little Clam Camp so youth can learn more about Tlingít culture this summer. The camp takes place from 1-4:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, July 10-13, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

During the camp, youth in grades kindergarten through fifth grade will take part in a wide variety of engaging activities, from learning how to identify different species of shellfish in Tlingít, to nature walks, and even hands-on art lessons.

For more information, contact the STA Resource Protection Department or register at jacob.kohlhoff@sitkatribe-nsn.gov.

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Check out the July 2023 edition of the Sitka Local Foods Network newsletter

The Sitka Local Foods Network just sent out the July 2023 edition of its monthly newsletter. Feel free to click this link to get a copy.

This month’s newsletter includes short stories about the opening of the 2023 Sitka Farmers Market season, an upcoming town hall about building new community gardens, an update about how you can support the Sitka Local Foods Network by buying a t-shirt or hoodie from our online store, information about our 2023 sponsorship programs, and an invitation to join our board of directors. Each story has links to our website for more information.

You can sign up for future editions of our newsletter by clicking on the newsletter image in the right column of our website and filling in the information. If you received a copy but didn’t want one, there is a link at the bottom of the newsletter so you can unsubscribe. Our intention is to get the word out about upcoming events and not to spam people. We will protect your privacy by not sharing our email list with others. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, like our Sitka Farmers Market page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@SitkaLocalFoods).