rockfish

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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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• Planting fruit trees in Sitka and getting more seafood into local school meals are 2010 Sitka Health Summit projects

Cherry blossoms at Blatchley Community Garden

Cherry blossoms at Blatchley Community Garden

When Sitka residents met for the community planning day during the Sitka Health Summit earlier this month, two of the four health priority projects they chose to work on this year centered around local food issues.

One of the projects is to plant 200 fruit trees — apples, crabapples or cherry trees — in Sitka by the next Sitka Health Summit on Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 2011. The other food-related project is to get more locally caught wild fish into school lunch menus.

Both groups already are making progress toward their goals, and public meetings have been organized so Sitka residents can participate.

The fruit tree planting group meets from 7-8:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 25, at The Loft (408 Oja Way, Suite A, located across the residential street and a couple of buildings over from the Sitka Police Department’s side entry door on Oja Way). Apple cider and an apple dish will be offered.

All Sitka residents are welcome, especially those who have grown fruit trees in Sitka or Southeast Alaska and can share their experiences. Group member Lisa Sadleir-Hart created a brief survey about fruit trees in Sitka, and you can answer it by clicking this link, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QPWMJ3N. Please complete the survey, even if you can’t attend the meeting. The group temporarily is being facilitated by Kari Lundgren, who can be reached at 738-2089 for more information.

Black cod (aka sablefish) on the grill from the Alaska Longline Fisherman's Association booth at the Sitka Farmers Market

Black cod (aka sablefish) on the grill from the Alaska Longline Fisherman's Association booth at the Sitka Farmers Market

The wild fish for school lunches group has been meeting with officials with the Sitka School District and Mt. Edgecumbe High School, local fish vendors, catchers and processors, to see what they can do to get more locally caught wild fish — salmon, halibut, cod, sablefish, rockfish, etc. — served in Sitka schools.

The wild fish group’s first meeting will be for a fish lunch at noon on Friday, Nov. 19, at Pacific High School. Some people will show up at 11 a.m. to help cook the fish, which will be served at noon, and the actual meeting will be from 12:30-1:30 p.m. at the Southeast Alaska Career Center (located right behind Pacific High School). To learn more about the group, contact Kerry MacLane at 752-0654 or maclanekerry@yahoo.com.

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• Sitka Seafood Festival steering committee to meet June 22

The Sitka Seafood Festival steering committee’s next meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 22, at Harrigan Centennial Hall.

Each of the steering committee’s smaller committees should have held meetings since the large group met in May, and those updates will be discussed at this meeting. The Sitka Seafood Festival takes place on Aug. 6-7 at Harrigan Centennial Hall and other locations around Sitka.

Chef Robert Kinneen of Orso Ristorante in Anchorage shows off an entrée featuring fresh Alaska yelloweye rockfish (Alaska Journal of Commerce photo by Rob Stapleton)

Chef Robert Kinneen of Orso Ristorante in Anchorage shows off an entrée featuring fresh Alaska yelloweye rockfish (Alaska Journal of Commerce photo by Rob Stapleton)

In other news, the Sitka Seafood Festival has chosen a guest chef — Robert Kinneen of Orso Ristorante in Anchorage, who has been featured in the Alaska Journal of Commerce for his extensive use of local foods at the restaurant. During the festival, Robert will be the featured chef for Friday night’s banquet and he will have a booth set up during Saturday’s festivities. Robert is currently filming a “Web-A-Thon” and has a professional camera crew that he would like to bring here to cover some of the festival. The Sitka Seafood Festival is in need of Alaska Airline miles to help bring the chef, his family and the filming crew to Sitka for the festival. While in Sitka, the camera crew may be available to film other projects related to fishing or tourism. If you can help the Sitka Seafood Festival out with air miles, send an e-mail to sitkaseafoodfestival@gmail.com or contact Alicia Peavey at 1-928-607-4845.

Sitka Seafood Festival steering committee minutes from May 20, 2010

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• Alaskans Own seafood to start community supported fisheries (CSF) program in Sitka

The Alaskans Own seafood company is starting a community supported fisheries (CSF) program in Sitka this summer. The CSF program will be modeled after the community supported agriculture (CSA) subscription programs used by small farms around the country.

Alaskans Own is a group of independent fishermen in Sitka whose commitment to conservation is supported by the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust. “For us, it’s not just about catching fish, it’s about caring for the fisheries. It’s our passion, our future. Our commitment to the resource comes through in the quality of Alaskans Own seafood — it’s the best, and we’re proud of that,” says Jeff Farvour of the F/V Christi-Rob and an occasional vendor at the Sitka Farmers Market.

The Alaskans Own CSF program features a three-month subscription that lasts from June through August. During these three months, subscribers will receive a total of 40 pounds of fresh, locally caught wild seafood (20 pounds for the half-subscription option) that features a selection of king and coho (silver) salmon, rockfish and ling cod, halibut and black cod (sablefish), plus some free black cod tips.

Subscribers will receive their fish during twice-monthly pick-ups (dates and times TBA) at the Mill Building, 836 Lincoln St., next to the Sitka Sound Science Center. All seafood is flash frozen at its freshest, portioned and commercially vacuum-packed.

Only 15 subscriptions are available this year, and the cost is $380 for a full subscription and $190 for a half-subscription. For more information, contact Beth Short at 738-3360, or e-mail her at info@alaskansown.com to register. Payment is by check for now, but credit cards soon. Proceeds benefit the Fisheries Conservation Network and the Sitka fishing community.

2010 Community Supported Fisheries information sheet