Under the program, states and recipient agencies can contract with commercial food processors to convert raw bulk U.S. Department of Agriculture commodities into more convenient, ready-to-use products, such as fish sticks, nuggets and portions.
"States have certain entitlement dollars based on the number of free and reduced-cost lunches they serve, and those entitlement dollars can be used to purchase commodity products," said Pat Shanahan, program director for the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers trade group.
In the case of pollock, the trade group worked to make sure the USDA included the term "once frozen" in its purchase specifications, which pretty much guarantees that the fish will come from Alaska. In contrast, most of the pollock caught by Russian fishing fleets is frozen and shipped to China, where it is thawed again and refrozen into blocks for reprocessing.
"Anything thawed and frozen twice loses quality," Shanahan said.
Shanahan said five years ago, schools didn't know there was a difference, but more are now specifying once-frozen Alaska pollock.
The GAPP has been working with national school food programs for several years to create kid-friendly pollock products for school lunch trays.
The Baja salad, for example, is made with spicy cornmeal crusted pollock sticks and served in a taco shell bowl. That's the favorite in Fairbanks schools, and Kenai kids called the fish choices "the best school lunches ever," according to Dean Hamburg, director of Student Nutrition Services for the Kenai Peninsula school district. Alaska pollock items also are on menus in Houston and Seattle school districts, and now that pollock is included in the USDA's commodity list, more regions will be able to serve it to kids.
Smart about salmon
All winter in classrooms across Alaska, kids are caring for tiny salmon that they will release to the wild in the spring.
Most are using the "Alaska Wild Salmon" guide as their instruction manual, which for more than 20 years has been distributed free to schools, libraries and other outlets in Alaska and beyond.
"It's been very useful for just about anyone who wants to know about Alaska salmon," said Nancy Long, an information officer for the state Department of Fish and Game and editor of the salmon guide. "This publication is extremely popular and we get orders throughout the U.S., especially from West Coast teachers. It's really helpful for new teachers to Alaska who want to learn about the culture and importance of salmon."
Long said working on the salmon guide and other creative materials about Alaska's fish and wildlife is the most fun part of her job. For fisheries biologist Jay Baumer of Anchorage, it's driving the Salmon Van -- an aquatic classroom that travels by road and ferry all over Alaska.
Baumer believes Alaska's wild salmon and wildlife education programs can help set kids on a good career path.
"They never thought of becoming a biologist and this enters into their world -- they discover something new, hands on, fun -- and it allows them to apply science," he said. "We are really trying to get more local residents involved in what's going on in their fisheries and this is a great beginning for them."
Find teaching tools about Alaska's fish and wildlife for all ages on the Web at the Alaska Division of Commercial Fisheries home page under "Teacher Resources."
Fish jobs
Alaska's biggest fishery -- pollock -- begins next month, and several companies are hiring workers aboard catcher/processor vessels. Work averages 16 hours a day, for two to three months at sea.
A Job Fair is set for Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Midtown Anchorage Job Center. Hiring companies include Arctic Storm, Starbound and Trident Seafoods. Trident applicants must apply in advance online at www.tridentseafoods.com. Questions? Call 907-269-4775 or visit the At-sea Processors Association Web site at www.atsea.org.
Laine Welch is a Kodiak-based fisheries journalist. Her Fish Radio programs can be heard on stations around the state. Her information column appears every other Sunday. This material is protected by copyright. For information on reprinting or placing on your Web site or newsletter, contact msfish@alaska.com.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.