wild Alaska seafood

by

Alaskans Own community-supported seafood program opens 2021 membership sales

Alaskans Own is excited to announce that seafood lovers throughout Alaska and Seattle can now sign up for 2021 monthly seafood shares, while seeing their share payments going toward Alaska seafood donations and fishery conservation work.

This year marks the 12th year that Alaskans Own will deliver monthly shares of wild Alaska seafood directly to consumers through its Community Supported Fishery. Based on the widespread Community Supported Agriculture (aka, CSA) model, CSFs are a way for people to buy a “share” of seafood before the fishing season, giving fishermen some certainty that they have a market before they head out to the fishing grounds. Founded in 2009 by the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA), Alaskans Own is Alaska’s first and oldest Community Supported Fishery and offers monthly seafood shares subscriptions in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Sitka, Juneau, and Seattle. 

In 2021, all profits from Alaskans Own seafood sales will go towards ALFA’s Fishery Conservation Network and Seafood Donation Program. The Seafood Donation Program was created in 2020 in response to COVID-19 and the rise in demand for food assistance throughout Alaska and the greater Pacific Northwest region. Thanks to funding from Catch Together, Multiplier, The Alaska Community Foundation and affiliate The Sitka Legacy Foundation, First Bank Alaska, Sealaska, Sitka Rotary Club, and a host of individual and business donors, ALFA was able to help deliver more than 600,000 donated seafood meals to more than 100,000 families in 2020. Given the Seafood Donation Program’s success and continued food insecurity amongst thousands of Alaska households, ALFA is hoping to expand the Seafood Donation Program and use Alaskans Own’s monthly seafood shares sales as a way to help sustain it.

“As a Community Supported Fishery, community is at the heart of who we are and everything we do at Alaskans Own. Our top priority is to take care of our community, whether that’s by paying local fishermen a good price for their catch, providing our customers with premium quality fish, or ensuring that all Alaskans can have access to nutritious, wild seafood,” said Natalie Sattler, Alaskans Own program director. “When someone signs up for our monthly seafood share, they’re not only taking care of their family’s health, but they’re also directly supporting conservation of Alaska’s fisheries and seafood donations for families in need.”

New this year will be the option for Alaskans Own customers to choose from a selection of monthly seafood shares, including a seafood variety share, salmon lovers share, and white fish share. All monthly seafood share options feature hook-and-line caught wild Alaska seafood harvested by Southeast Alaska’s troll and longline fishermen.

“The challenges that we all experienced in 2020 really reinforced for us at Alaskans Own that we want to do more than just deliver high quality seafood. We want our fish to do good for the greater good. We’re so grateful for our customers who believe in our mission and invest in it every time they buy seafood from Alaskans Own,” said Linda Behnken, Alaskans Own founder, commercial fisherman, and ALFA executive director. 

To learn more about Alaskans Own’s monthly seafood shares and other seafood products, visit www.alaskansown.com. 

Alaskans Own is a non-profit, community supported fisheries program. Joining Alaskans Own is about a lot more than buying great fish. It’s an investment in the health of both fish and fisherman, in a cleaner environment, more vibrant local economies and a better future for Alaska. Learn more about our Fishery Conservation Network at alfafish.org. You can follow the the Alaskans Own program on Facebook and on Instagram.

by

• Sitka Seafood Festival announces new director; will host art auction on Saturday, Oct. 5

ssfauctionc

(The following letter to the editor originally appeared on Page 2 of the Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013, edition of the Daily Sitka Sentinel. It is reprinted here with the writer’s permission.)
 
ssflogo2The fifth annual Sitka Seafood Festival (SSF) is scheduled for Aug. 1-2, 2014. The festival continues to grow each year. This past year we brought in more than 100 out-of-own guests, had some national recognition from a couple of well-known culinary magazines, and continued to have more and more local support. 
 
Over the past four years, we have had a small group of volunteers working extremely hard to follow through with our mission statement, to “celebrate wild Alaskan seafood.” We have done this through education, such as bringing in amazing speakers such as a 2012 McArthur Genius Award-winner David Montgomery, and accomplished author, professor and chef Becky Selengut to offer free presentations to the public. We also started the new culinary scholarship award this past year which we hope will continue to grow to give a passionate future culinary artist more experience and funds to pursue their career further. 
 
We offer entertainment, including local and headliner bands such as the well-known band Trampled by Turtles, aerial silk dancers, Ninja acrobatics, and of course, the addition of the Scottish Highland Games and this past year the full- and half-marathon. But, even with all the other fun events going on, the focus of our festival is based around celebrating the culinary aspect of our amazing, local seafood products.  

Carolyn Kinneen

Carolyn Kinneen

I am writing this letter today to introduce you to the new director and co-directors of the Sitka Seafood Festival. I am so extremely excited with the potential of where this festival can go. If anyone gets the pleasure to meet our new directors, I think they will share in my enthusiasm, because these folks encompass what this festival is all about, and I think it can only get better from here!  The 2014 SSF Director is Carolyn Kinneen, along with co-directors Jeren Schmidt and Robert Kinneen.  All past board members, including myself, are staying active with the festival. 

Carolyn Kinneen is wife to our four-time returning guest chef Robert Kinneen, and has been active in the festival since the start. She currently lives in Anchorage, but with the help of our local co-director, Jeren Schmidt, should be a wonderful fit.  Carolyn works in many different areas of food-related advocacy and policy, and sits on multiple boards pertaining to Alaskan-based foods.  She has experience in running a large array of projects including the TEDx Anchorage lecture series, as well as the Alaska Food Policy Council. 

We are very excited to have Carolyn on board. If anyone would like to hear more about Carolyn, or pick her’s or any other board member’s brains about the future SSF, we will be holding an open “meet and greet” at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct 4, at Baranof Island Brewing Company (215 Smith St.).  Come say hello and welcome Carolyn, Rob and Jeren to their new positions, and feel free to pass along any suggestions, concerns or input you may have. 

Thank you for your continued support Sitka!  Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the 5th annual SSF Aug 1-2, 2014. And please attend our upcoming fundraiser, the Live Art Auction with the Fishermen’s Eye Gallery, at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct 5, at the Westmark Sitka Hotel.

— Alicia Haseltine, past SSF Director, current board member

by

• Vendor forms available for the Sitka Seafood Festival’s market on Aug. 11

The Sitka Seafood Festival is recruiting food and other vendors for its market on Saturday, Aug. 11, at Harrigan Centennial Hall and the Crescent Harbor Shelter. In past years vendors have sold local seafood items, arts and crafts, books, clothing and other items related to seafood and the oceans.

The third annual Sitka Seafood Festival (and Scottish Highland Games) takes place on Aug. 10-11 at various locations around downtown Sitka. The final schedule still is being organized, but in previous years there usually has been a seafood dinner on Friday night catered by guest and local chefs, followed by a market and fun events such as tote races and bobbing for fish heads on Saturday. There usually are guest musicians who play on Saturday night, and this year they’ve added a Scottish Highland Games where people can throw heavy stones or toss the caber (a large pole/tree trunk that must go end-over-end when it lands). Other new events this year include a Sitka Signature Seafood Dish contest and a wedding cake contest.

To learn more about the event, check out the website. To become a vendor, download the forms linked below and contact Christi (Wuerker) Henthorn at 738-9047 or christinawuerker@uwalumni.com.

• 2012 Sitka Seafood Festival Vendor Information and Registration Forms

by

• 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.