The introduction of herring in food aid programmes will also benefit the Alaska fishing industry. (Photo: ADFG/C.Reports)

Alaska herring feeds Africa

UNITED STATES
Tuesday, August 04, 2009, 21:40 (GMT + 9)

The introduction of canned Alaskan herring into international food aid programmes would open up a USD 13 million market for the struggling Alaskan industry, noted a food aid coordinator for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI).

Not only will the pilot programme benefit Alaskan coastal communities; it will also provide vital protein to hungry people, said ASMI's Bruce Schactler, who is also a Kodiak salmon and herring fisherman.   

The new market, along with the development of canning facilities near harvest areas, would also generate employment along the Alaskan coast, he said, the Alaska Journal of Commerce reports. 

Schactler's big marketing campaign highlights the nutritional value of some 3,000 pounds of canned herring in feeding orphans in Uganda and refugees on the border of Congo.

"The protein level in herring is almost the same as salmon, and it has about triple the omega 3 oils," said Schactler. 

Canned Alaska herring also has a shelf life of five to seven years, he noted. 

"I am following along on the same marketing and development models that we have done with salmon to this point," said Schactler, who has worked since 2004 to develop markets for wild Alaska seafood in international food aid programmes. "One container (of canned herring) is about 200,000 meals. This will start showing people this is a viable product. Everybody likes it. If you can show that, it will start turning into a viable program."

Schactler has helped introduce wild Alaska salmon as the first animal protein in domestic and international food programmes. Alaska salmon processors were canning more fish than the market would bear, he said.

Now, about 20 per cent of the 1-pound cans of wild salmon were being purchased for food aid programs. And last fall, "while everything in the world was free falling in price, the canned pinks were going up in price," he said.

As demand for wild Alaska canned salmon in food aid program increases, Schactler is also working to boost demand for Alaska herring.

"There is so much need all over Alaska for some new economic development," he said.

By Denise Recalde
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com