halibut

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• Second Annual Sitka Seafood Festival celebrates our local bounty from the sea

The second annual Sitka Seafood Festival takes place on Friday and Saturday, May 20-21, at Harrigan Centennial Hall and Crescent Harbor.

The festival opens at 6 p.m. on Friday with the opening banquet dinner at Harrigan Centennial Hall. This event features a formal  atmosphere  with  various  local  chefs  collaborating,  each showcasing  a  separate  course. It also  introduces  our  guest  chefs —  Louisa  Chu,  chef  and writer  from  Chicago,  and  our  returning  guest  chef  Robert Kinneen  from  Anchorage.  There will be a live  music  performance  by  Ray  Troll  and  the  Rat  Fish  Wranglers  during  dinner,  as  well as  a  silent  auction  and  other entertainment. Tickets  are available  at  Old  Harbor  Books  for  $50.

The fun continues on Saturday, with a full schedule of events at Harrigan Centennial  Hall,  Crescent  Harbor  Shelter  and  back  parking  area. Events include:

  • 11 AM: Maritime-themed  parade
  • Vendor  booths  including  food,  educational  and  entertainment  booths,  kids  games  and prizes,  knot  tying  classes,  beer  garden,  live  music  by  many  local  bands,  or  anyone interested  in  showcasing  seafood/maritime-related  items  (for more  info,  contact Christi Wuerker at 738-9047)
  • Kids  and  adult  art  workshop  with  Ray  Troll  (limited  number of openings,  to  sign  up,  call  Alicia Olson at 928-607-4845)
  • GingerLee, Aerial  silk  dancer  performances by Jenn Perry
  • USCG  Aids  to  Navigation  Team  vessel  tours
  • Local  New Archangel Russian  dance  and  Naa  Kahídi  Tlingít dance  performances
  • US Coast  Guard  helicopter  rescue  demonstration
  • Cooking  demonstration  by  guest  chef  Louisa  Chu
  • Fish-filleting  demos  on  the  hour,  every  hour  starting  at  noon,  as  well  as  rockfish  identifying contests
  • Fish-head-tossing  contest,  tote  races,  crab  races  and  fish-head-bobbing  contests
  • 5-6PM:  Fish  Poetry  at  Kettleson  Memorial Library (More  info:  Jeff  Budd at  the  Greater  Sitka  Arts  Council)
  • 8-11PM:  Live  music  and  dance  with  Ray  Troll  and  the  Ratfish  Wranglers  opening  and  the headliner  band  Wicked  Tinkers  (Tickets  $20  at  Old  Harbor  Books:  more  info  available through  Sitka  Folk)

To learn more, go to  http://www.sitkaseafoodfestival.org/,  or  contact  Alicia  Olson at  928- 607-4845 or by e-mail  at sitkaseafoodfestival@gmail.com.

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• 2011 prices set for Alaskans Own community supported fisheries (CSF) seafood subscriptions

It’s time to sign up for your 2011 community supported fisheries (CSF) seafood subscription with Alaskans Own seafood company in Sitka. This is the second summer Alaskans Own has offered CSF seafood subscriptions, and they were very successful last year.

Subscriptions are available in full shares (40 pounds total for the season) and half shares (20 pounds total for the season) and include locally-caught king and coho salmon, halibut, black cod, lingcod and yelloweye. Product is flash-frozen, portioned and vacuum packed — perfect for summer or winter eating. Pick-ups will happen once per month during May, June, July and August.

Subscription costs are $425 for a full share (40 pounds) and $225 for a half share (20 pounds). All proceeds benefit the Fishery Conservation Network (http://www.alaskansown.com/fishery-conservation-network.php).

For more information, call Beth Short at 738-3360 or visit http://www.alaskansown.com/seafood-subscription.php.

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• FISH, Tree work groups set meetings to continue Sitka Health Summit project work

FISH (Fish In School, Hooray!) will hold an informal meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 1, at the front desk at the Hames Athletic and Wellness Center to make plans for its next school meal featuring locally  caught wild fish. The other local-food-related project from the 2010 Sitka Health Summit, the Sitka Fruit Tree Initiative, also has an upcoming meeting, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

The FISH project served its first special fish lunch at Blatchley Middle School in January, a red snapper fishwich. About 20 percent of the students chose the fish entrée (24 out of 120 lunches served), so the FISH group wants to look at ways they can better market the health and economic benefits of eating locally caught fish to the students. The informal meeting is scheduled during Tuesday’s open house/reopening event at Hames (5-7 p.m.) since many group members already were planning to attend the event. For more information, contact Kerry MacLane at 752-0654 or maclanekerry@yahoo.com.

The Sitka Fruit Tree Initiative will be trying to set where it plans to plant fruit trees around Sitka later this spring, with the ultimate goal of planting 200 new apple, crabapple and cherry trees in Sitka. A brief description of the project is available in the document posted below. To learn more about the project, contact Lisa Sadleir-Hart at 747-5985 or 3akharts@acsalaska.net.

• Sitka Fruit Tree Initiative brief project description

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• Alaskans Own™ community supported fisheries program expands from Sitka to Juneau

The Juneau Empire on Sunday, Jan. 23, featured an article that Sitka-based Alaskans Own™ seafood cooperative is expanding its Community Supported Fisheries program into Juneau this summer.

Last summer, Alaskans Own™ became the first community supported fisheries (CSF) program in Alaska, using a model popular with farmers called Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) where customers buy a subscription and share in the harvest. In recent weeks there has been news that the Anchorage-based Alaska Marine Conservation Council is going to offer a CSF this year for Kodiak tanner crab, making it the second Alaska program to offer a CSF. With renewed emphasis on local foods, CSFs and CSAs are becoming very popular around the country since they help the customers connect directly with the harvesters.

Alaskans Own™ still is finalizing its plan for this year’s programs in Juneau and Sitka, with prices being set once the long-lining season opens in February and they see what the seafood market price ranges are for the year. Fish quantities may be limited, so Alaskans Own™ suggests signing up for subscriptions early. Full- and half-shares are available, with each share featuring a variety of salmon, halibut, black cod (sablefish), yellow-eye rockfish and other species. Alaskans Own™ also sells some fish during the Sitka Farmers Markets.

For more information, go to the Alaskans Own™ website, e-mail alaskansown@gmail.com, or call 738-3360 (Sitka) or 209-1187 (Juneau).

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• Sitka Local Foods Network to host annual meeting and local foods potluck on Saturday, Jan. 29

The Sitka Local Foods Network will host its annual meeting and local foods potluck from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Building, 408 Marine St.

This event is free and open to all Sitka residents. The annual meeting portion of the program will feature an update on all of our current projects, including the two new local-foods-related projects that came out of the 2010 Sitka Health Summit (planting 200 fruit trees around town and getting more local fish in school lunches). We are gearing up for the annual Let’s Grow Sitka gardening education event on Sunday, March 20; the community garden season with work parties starting in April or May; and for the upcoming Sitka Farmers Market season starting in July. New volunteers always are appreciated.

We encourage everyone to bring a favorite dish that features local foods, such as venison steaks, grilled salmon, seafood chowder, freshly baked bread and salmonberry preserves, seaweed, herring eggs and vegetables from the garden. For more information, contact Linda Wilson at 747-3096 (evenings and weekends) or lawilson87@hotmail.com.

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• Alaska Journal of Commerce article spotlights local food offerings of Sitka chef Josh Peavey

Josh Peavey, right, talks over Baranof beer at a recent all-Alaskan dinner at Bayview Restaurant and Wine Bar in Sitka. The entire menu down to the butter and the bread was made by Peavey with only Alaskan ingredients. (Courtesy Photo Josh Peavey)

Josh Peavey, right, talks over Baranof beer at a recent all-Alaskan dinner at Bayview Restaurant and Wine Bar in Sitka. The entire menu down to the butter and the bread was made by Peavey with only Alaskan ingredients. (Courtesy Photo Josh Peavey)

The Dec. 23-29, 2010, edition of the Alaska Journal of Commerce statewide business weekly newspaper has a feature story about the local food offerings of Sitka chef Josh Peavey. The article also was featured in the Dec. 29-Jan. 4 issue of Capital City Weekly.

Peavey is the executive chef at the New Bayview Restaurant and Wine Bar. He also owns The Alaskan Kitchen catering company. Peavey’s wife, Alicia, headed up the inaugural Sitka Seafood Festival in August.

In the article, Peavey discusses his efforts to serve more local foods in his restaurant and catering meals, even if that means looking elsewhere in Alaska to find ingredients. In November, Peavey hosted an all-Alaska-ingredients fundraising dinner that included some produce from the Sitka Local Foods Network and several types of finfish and shellfish from a variety of Sitka fish companies. The meal also included pork from North Pole, reindeer sausage from Anchorage, dairy products from the Matanuska-Susitna valleys and even beer from Sitka’s own Baranof Island Brewing Co.

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• Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute sponsors Alaska fish taco recipe contest

Alaska Fish Tacos (photo courtesy of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute)

Alaska Fish Tacos (photo courtesy of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute)

Do you have a great fish taco recipe that uses wild Alaska seafood, Sitka’s premier local food? If so, that recipe might earn you a trip to Los Angeles to serve your winning dish.

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is sponsoring the contest, in partnership with celebrity chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feninger of Los Angeles-based Border Grill. The grand prize winner will fly to LA to serve his or her fish tacos alongside the chefs on their gourmet taqueria on wheels, the Border Grill Truck. All recipes must use at least one type of wild Alaska fish in a tortilla (so a burrito or quesadilla will work, too). For more details about the contest, go to http://www.alaskafishtaco.com/.

The recipe contest opened in November and runs through Monday, Jan. 31, 2011. Submit your recipe through the www.alaskafishtaco.com site, which also has videos and a few recipes from the chefs. In addition to the grand prize winner, there also will be a People’s Choice contest that starts on Feb. 15, 2011. The winner of the People’s Choice contest receives and Apple iPad.

If you have a great fish taco recipe using fish caught in Sitka, send the recipe and a photo of your masterpiece to charles@sitkalocalfoodsnetwork.org. We don’t have any prizes, but the best recipes will be posted on the Sitka Local Foods Network site. Personally, I like a smoked king salmon quesadilla or a salmon taco with mango/peach salsa.

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• Sitka Health Summit project to get more fish in school lunches to start pilot study

From left, Lexi Fish, Linda Wilson and Kerry MacLane serve up fish tacos at Pacific High recently. At right are Sitka School Board President Lon Garrison and Superintendent Steve Bradshaw. The Sitka School District is considering adding locally caught fish to the school lunch program. (Daily Sitka Sentinel photo by James Poulson)

From left, Lexi Fish, Linda Wilson and Kerry MacLane serve up fish tacos at Pacific High recently. At right are Sitka School Board President Lon Garrison and Superintendent Steve Bradshaw. The Sitka School District is considering adding locally caught fish to the school lunch program. (Daily Sitka Sentinel photo by James Poulson)

Members of the Sitka Health Summit group trying to get more locally caught wild fish served in school lunches met with Sitka school officials Friday, Nov. 19, over a meal of fish tacos and agreed to a pilot study to see how many students will choose fish for lunch.

The project is one of four community health priorities/goals to come out of the 2010 Sitka Health Summit this October. Community members want to have more locally caught wild fish served in school lunches because the food is healthier than the usual school-lunch fare, especially with the Omega 3 fatty acids found in most finfish. Also, by using local fish will help the local commercial fishing industry and there is less of an environmental impact because there are fewer transportation miles used to get the food to Sitka.

On Friday, Nov. 19, members of the project task force — called FISH!, or Fish In Schools, Hooray! — met with Sitka School District Superintendent Steve Bradshaw and other school officials, including NANA Management Services, which has the food service contract for the school district. Representatives from several of Sitka’s fish processors and commercial fishing organizations also attended the fish taco lunch at the Southeast Alaska Career Center (located behind Pacific High School). One of the key issues is trying to find reasonably priced fish that doesn’t exceed the school district’s budget for protein.

During the meeting, the school district and FISH! decided to run a pilot project at Blatchley Middle School starting in January and running through the end of the school year. During the test program, fresh fish (starting with Pacific cod) will be served once a month as one of the four options available to students. If enough of the students select the fish, then the project will spread to all schools next year. The task force will promote the fish through the school newspaper, school newsletter and other local media. The task force will sponsor the cost difference during the first month of the project, with other groups picking up the cost difference in following months.

In addition to the Sitka School District, the task force also is working with Pacific High School (which creates its own menus separate from the district), Mt. Edgecumbe High School (which is run by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development) and the Sitka Pioneer Home to get more locally caught wild fish into their menus.

(EDITOR’s NOTE: The Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2010, edition of the Daily Sitka Sentinel included a story about the project. The story is posted below as a PDF file, since the Sentinel’s site requires a password.)

• Daily Sitka Sentinel article from Nov. 24, 2010 — Schools Hope to Hook Students on Fish

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• Sitka Conservation Society hosts wild foods potluck and annual meeting on Saturday, Nov. 13

The Sitka Conservation Society, which helps sponsor the Sitka Local Foods Network, is hosting its community wild foods potluck and annual meeting from 5-8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

This annual event gives Sitka residents a chance to share meals made with locally foraged food, from fish and wild game to seaweed, berries and other traditional subsistence foods. Doors open at 5 p.m., with food service starting at 5:30 p.m. Families are asked to bring in dishes that feature local wild foods, and if you can’t bring in a dish that features wild foods you can use a wild plant to garnish a dish made with store-bought foods. Local cooks can enter their dishes in a wild foods contest, too. The event also features live music from the SitNiks and a short presentation on the Tongass Wilderness. There also will be booths about local programs and projects before food is served.

This event kicks off the Sitka Conservation Society’s “Wild Week,” which features events from Nov. 13-20. Another local foods-oriented event is the “Eat Wild” benefit dinner that takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 17, at the New Bayview Restaurant and Wine Bar. Hors d’oeurves start at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m. Bayview chef Josh Peavey will prepare the meal, which also includes a sampling of locally produced beer from Baranof Island Brewing Company. Tickets for this special event are $60 each and available from Old Harbor Books and the Sitka Conservation Society.

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• Sitka Seafood Festival moves from August to May in 2011

The Sitka Seafood Festival steering committee met on Monday, Nov. 8, to start planning the second festival. One of the biggest changes will be moving the festival from August to May in 2011 so the festival takes place before the tourist season gets busy. The new dates will be Friday and Saturday, May 20-21, 2011, at Harrigan Centennial Hall and the Crescent Harbor shelter.

The inaugural Sitka Seafood Festival in August was very successful, and it looks like the steering committee plans to keep the same basic formula for the second festival. The festival had a guest chef who worked with local chefs to prepare a special gourmet seafood dinner on Friday night, and Saturday featured a full day of events with booths for seafood vendors, children’s events, artists and other vendors, an entertainment event in the afternoon and guest band performing at night.

Notes from Monday’s meeting are posted below. The next steering committee meeting will be at 8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 6, at the Channel Club, 2906 Halibut Point Road. For more information, contact Alicia Peavey at sitkaseafoodfestival@gmail.com or 1-928-607-4845.

• Sitka Seafood Festival steering committee meeting notes from Nov. 8, 2010