Peter Pan Seafoods, which operates processing facilities in Dillingham, Alaska, from April through August, has donated 10,000 pounds of sockeye salmon of its Bristol Bay catch to the regional school system in Dillingham.
Vice President of Operations Jon Hickman said the company wanted to do its part to contribute to Alaskans who need the seafood most, so they arranged, organized and custom processed those 10,000 pounds of fish into about 13,333 meals, which were given to the school district for a variety of their programs, including Head Start.
Peter Pan also provided 500 pounds of fish to the Bristol Bay Food Bank for free community canning classes and donated over 1,300 meal to Grandma’s House, an assisted living facility, and the senior center in Dillingham. “We feel very fortunate to be able to give back to the community of Dillingham and look forward to future opportunities to extend our support across the state,” Hickman said.
He added that the limited numbers of Chinook salmon delivered to them in Bristol Bay “were sold as fast as we could get them unloaded at the dock,” so that the company was unable to join other major processors with facilities at Naknek in contributing Chinooks to villages along the Yukon River.”
Due to the dearth of Chinook and keta salmon heading upstream from the mouth of the Yukon River this year, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed the river to all commercial and subsistence fishing.
Peter Pan Seafoods has processing facilities in Dillingham, King Cove, Port Moller and Valdez, but none at Naknek.