Tag: usda

Federal agriculture officials have purchased more than $68 million in wild Alaska sockeye salmon and $8 million in Pacific rockfish fillets from Alaska and the West Coast, taking a lot of the leftover 2022 harvest off of the market. An added bonus, according to Bruce Schactler, food aid program and development director for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI), is that this could give millions of people their first taste of wild Alaska sockeye salmon. Efforts to market the past season’s abundance, mostly millions of pounds of sockeyes from the Bristol Bay fishery, have been in motion since the 2022 season ended. “It finally came to fruition, a little later than we hoped,” Schactler said. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has a variety of domestic programs, and its purch...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has purchased $4,491,524 worth of canned Alaska pink salmon from OBI Seafoods, Silver Bay Seafoods LLC and Trident Seafoods Corp. for distribution to child nutrition and other related domestic food assistance programs for fiscal year 2023. The purchase, announced March 16, was the result of offers received in response to a March 2 USDA solicitation. Deliveries are to be made from April 16 through Aug. 30. Purchases from OBI at Kodiak totaling $758,692, are destined for food assistance programs in Louisiana, New York and Texas. Purchases from Silver Bay Seafoods in Sitka, totaling $3,548,911, are to be delivered in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, New York and Texas. Purchases from Trident Seafoods’ Cordova plant, totaling $183,9...

Four U.S. senators and six U.S. House of Representatives members from Washington, Oregon and California have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue purchases of West Coast seafood products for the economic benefit of the industry and coastal communities. Pacific Northwest and West Coast seafood products are currently being produced in large volumes, easily accessible and easily transportable for immediate distribution to food assistance program, they told Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack in a letter, noting economic challenges the seafood industry has been facing, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine. The purchases are being made under Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1935, which authorizes USDA to support prices of commodities in surplu...

Federal officials in late November proposed changes for participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), including improved access to canned fish, to reflect the latest dietary guidelines. These science-based revisions, recommended by the National Academies of Science, Engineers and Medicine (NASEM) and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans for 2020-2025, prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to post the proposed changes in the Federal Register.  Those guidelines recommend two eight-ounce servings of healthy seafood a week, starting at six months of age. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the proposed changes would strengthen WIC by ensuring that it provides foods that reflect the latest nutrition science to support heal...

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials have approved a $52 million purchase of Pacific Northwest seafood products, a deal that Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden say will provide a boost to the state’s seafood industry after being hard hit by COVID-19 and climate chaos. The deal includes the purchase of $22 million in Pacific whiting fillets, $18 million in Pacific rockfish fillets and $12 million in Pacific pink shrimp. “Not only do our fisheries deliver incredible products all around the world, they have been the lifeblood of communities up and down Oregon’s coast for generations,” Merkley said. “This announcement ensures Oregon’s coastal fishermen and seafood producers receive critical financial assistance needed to continue operating and providing services here in O...