SeaShare is sending salmon raised and donated by Bellingham Technical College Fisheries & Aquaculture students to feed hungry people in the Northwest. Bellingham Food Bank will receive some of the frozen salmon fillets, the end result of innovative donors. The donation is made possible by a partnership, between SeaShare, Bellingham Technical Collegeand Bornstein Seafoods.

Bellingham Technical College began its partnership with SeaShare in 2003. SeaShare is a Seattle-based nonprofit organization that helps seafood and related service companies make significant contributions to food banks across the country. SeaShare's executive director, Jim Harmon says, "This partnership exemplifies the value that our seafood leaders add to our communities. Several companies working together can accomplish much more than any single company could alone. We enjoy our collaboration with Bornstein and BTC. It's exciting each year to see new students in the program excited about fisheries, habitat and sustainability. Those students are the future of the seafood industry."

Bellingham Technical College operates a hatchery on Whatcom Creek in downtown Bellingham's Maritime Heritage Park through its Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences program at the Perry Center for Fisheries & Aquaculture. The program is the only one of its kind in the state, offering students a combination of laboratory work and hands-on learning at the hatchery. With an 81 percent placement rate, program graduates find careers as hatchery specialists, fish and shellfish culturists, and water quality technicians. Fisheries and Aquaculture instructors Earl Steele and Ryan Vasak manage the hatchery as they teach their students. After harvesting the returning salmon for eggs, the fish are donated to SeaShare for hunger relief. This year, BTC donated about 98,000 pounds of fish, though processing will decrease the number of pounds received by food banks. With so many people using food banks to feed help feed their families, it's work that Steele is proud to do, and it's a lesson in giving that he believes is essential for students.

"If we can donate this fish and feed hungry people high-quality seafood, it's so much more important than making a few bucks," Steele said. "I think it's important when you're teaching people and you're training them, to show them that it takes so little to make such a big impact."

SeaShare contracts with Bornstein Seafoods to pick up the fish, provide discounted processing, packaging, and freezing. The result is high protein salmon packed in family-sized portions and ready for distribution by the food bank.

"High protein items are a critical food for the hungry families we serve," said Mike Cohen, Bellingham Food Bank executive director. "More families visit us than at any time in history so donations like this are essential as we work to feed our community."

SeaShare is also celebrating their 20 ^th anniversary with a one million seafood meals challenge for the month of December. You can help them reach their goal #ShareTheSea and know that you have sent nutrient dense seafood to food banks across the country.

About Bellingham Technical College:

Bellingham Technical College is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, and offers seven direct transfer degrees such as pre-engineering, pre-nursing, electronics, mechanical engineering and technology and business. Completion of these degrees prepares BTC students to transfer with a junior status to participating colleges and universities in Washington State. BTC offers 37 associate degree and 45 certificate options providing professional technical education to support local and regional industry workforce needs. For more information, go to www.btc.ctc.edu.