Less fortunate Alaskans are receiving
fish dinners now that a bycatch to food banks program
has finally expanded to the Gulf. A similar program
has been in place since 1994 in the Bering Sea. The
Gulf effort began at the urging of Kodiak trawl fishermen
and processors who so far have donated over 5,000
pounds of processed halibut and salmon to the Kodiak
Island Food Bank, and 10,000 pounds to the Food Bank
of Alaska based in Anchorage. "The fishermen
sign up their boats to be able to retain halibut or
salmon taken in trawl fisheries. They bring it ashore
and the plants are signed up and authorized to retain
that and hold it separately for Sea Share." Jim
Harmon is director of Sea Share, a nonprofit that
focuses on seafood for hunger-relief. Federal law
requires that species taken as bycatch in trawl fisheries
be tossed overboard. "It's a shame to throw them
overboard if they can be used to feed people."
The fish went fast, says Kodiak Food Bank director
Alexander Tsurikov - "We took as much as our
freezers could hold. I had to watch how I handed it
out. It went really fast." Kodiak reflects the
26% national uptick in food bank traffic over the
past five years. Tsurikov says he is thankful and
hopeful the fish will keep coming. "I am really
thankful to all the people who made the program work.
I had given up on it ever happening and I hope it
continues. And I am glad the fish is being used instead
of thrown back into the ocean." The bycatch to
food banks program is what got Sea Share started,
but today it's just 10% of its seafood pantry. The
group has provided over 150 million seafood meals
to hunger relief since 1994. www.seashare.org. Find
a link to Sea Share at Fish Radio on Facebook.
