When it comes to feeding hungry people, the general rule of thumb is you do what you need to do to get the job done. And when it comes to feeding those in need in Alaska, it takes an entire industry, from fishermen to processors to transportation, to get the job done.

That’s what happened last week, when Bristol Bay seafood processors collected 25,000 pounds of H&G king salmon for distribution on the Yukon. Alaska Department of Fish & Game announced in early July closure of the Yukon even to subsistence fishing, and since then seafood processors had been discussing what to do to support the Yukon. Salmon is a very important food source for these communities and has strong cultural significance.

SeaShare was asked by these generous donors to help with the coordination and tracking of the product:

Alaska General Seafoods

Leader Creek Fisheries

North Pacific Seafoods

OBI Seafoods (Ocean Beauty Icicle)

Silver Bay Seafoods

Trident Seafoods

The salmon were divided between the Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association in Emmonak and the Tanana Chiefs Conference in Fairbanks. Transportation was coordinated by Jim Jansen of Lynden Inc., which worked with Northern Air Cargo and Everts to get the fish to Emmonak and Fairbanks. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game also helped with some of the air freight charges.

None of this relief effort would have happened without the help of all companies involved. Thank you for providing 100,000 servings of seafood to the Yukon, all at zero cost to the receiving communities!

This is not SeaShare’s first foray into a special project devoted to feeding hungry Alaskans.  The nonprofit supplies seafood to many locations around the state, including containers outfitted by the Terry Shaff fund, which honors Unisea’s late CEO and a member of SeaShare’s board of directors.