A Record-Breaking Year for Fish to Schools: 25,000 Servings of Local Seafood for Sitka’s Youth
Locally caught teriyaki white king salmon served with garlic, carrots, and herbs grown right here in Sitka, Alaska—it sounds like a restaurant special. But in our community, it’s a school lunch meal.
For 15 years, Sitka Conservation Society’s Fish to Schools program has been a bridge between our fishing industry and our classrooms bringing together culturally-relevant local foods, regional food security, and nutritious school lunches for our youth. This year, that bridge has never been stronger.
Throughout the 2025–2026 school year, Sitka students will savor 25,000 servings of local fish, made possible by the largest community donation Fish to Schools has ever received.
Sitka Conservation Society invests in the Fish to Schools program because it represents the full circle of a healthy, sustainable community. The fish served in our schools are caught in local waters by local fishermen, processed by local businesses, and shared at local tables. Every fillet reflects a network of Tongass environmental stewardship, community-rooted care, jobs, and small businesses that keep Sitka’s economy strong, resilient, and grounded in place.
And the impact goes beyond economics. When kids have access to local, nutritious, and culturally relevant foods, their bodies and minds are nourished. It helps connect youth to the Tongass, to salmon, to stewardship and to their community.
If you’re a fisherman interested in donating your catch, or if you have questions about supporting the program, please contact us at [email protected]. Together, we can keep nourishing Sitka’s kids while strengthening local fisheries, economies, and stewardship of the Tongass.
Want to know how you can get involved?
Donations to Sitka Conservation Society help support our Fish to Schools programming and policy work.
Fish to Schools is powered by community generosity. Financial donations to Sitka Conservation Society help sustain this ongoing, donation-based program—from coordinating fish donations and processing to supporting education, outreach, and the behind-the-scenes work that keeps local seafood on school lunch trays. Donations also support SCS’s policy work to shift institutional purchasing toward local, community-based food systems so programs like Fish to Schools can thrive long into the future.
Supporting local food systems means caring for the lands and waters that make those systems possible. Without healthy oceans and a well-managed Tongass National Forest, which is home to thousands of miles of salmon-bearing streams, programs like Fish to Schools and the fishing economies we rely on wouldn’t exist.
The Tongass Land Management Plan revision process is underway, and opportunities for public comment are coming soon. It’s vital that our community’s voices help shape this plan. We need a forest managed sustainably and a plan that supports the many ways of life rooted in a healthy, intact ecosystem. Our local fisheries are just one example of how deeply we depend on the Tongass.
Honoring the Fishermen Who Make It Possible
For 15 years, local fishermen have generously donated a portion of their hard-earned catch to Sitka Conservation Society’s Fish to Schools program. These fishermen make possible a program that deepens students’ understanding of where their food comes from, expands access to nutritious meals, and keeps our food system rooted in place.
To every fisherman who donated this year or in years past:
Gunalchéesh. Thank you for feeding our kids, stewarding our oceans, and strengthening Sitka’s local food system.
A Historic First: Sockeye Salmon in School Lunches
Thanks to an extraordinary gift of 3,600 pounds of sockeye salmon from Shee Atiká, Fish to Schools will serve Sockeye Salmon for the first time ever—bringing even more culturally meaningful, nutrient-rich salmon to cafeterias across the Sitka School District and Mt. Edgecumbe High School.
Gunalchéesh to Shee Atiká for strengthening the connection between youth and the lands and waters that have sustained this community since time immemorial. Your generosity means more local fish meals on lunch menus and more opportunities for students to experience the foods that tell the story of this place.
The Partners Behind the Plates
Fish to Schools is a community-powered program. Fishermen may provide the fish, but it takes a network of processors, delivery teams, and school kitchen crews to bring each fillet from deck to lunch tray. This year’s success reflects the dedication of many hands….
Sitka Sound Seafoods
Amid the fast pace of fishing seasons and processing schedules, the crew at Sitka Sound Seafoods (SSS) consistently makes time to receive, track, and prepare donated salmon. They also donate fish and processing services that directly support the program.
To the entire Sitka Sound Seafoods team:
Gunalchéesh for your care, expertise, and commitment to nourishing Sitka’s kids.
Seafood Producers Cooperative
The Seafood Producers Cooperative (SPC) supports Fish to Schools through processing donated fish, contributing their own, covering processing costs, and providing crucial cold storage space. Their willingness to make room for these fish during the busiest season speaks volumes about their commitment to our community.
To everyone at SPC:
Gunalchéesh. Thank you for helping feed our youth with local, nutritious fish.
Samsung Tug and Barge
Samson Tug and Barge is another longtime supporter of Fish to Schools. For fishermen delivering at the end of the road, they’ve provided donation totes, freezer space, and labor—making it easier for fishermen who want to give. A big thank-you to Kurt Ainslie and the entire Samson Tug and Barge team for offering freezer space and hands-on support so there’s another convenient location to donate during the annual fish drive.
Sitka Courier: Getting Local Fish Across the Finish Line
This year, Sitka Courier, owned by Mike and Beth Smith, stepped in at a critical moment. With their box truck, lift, and determination, they transported large totes of donated fish over the O’Connell Bridge and directly into the Mount Edgecumbe High School kitchen.
Thank you, Sitka Courier, for your problem solving and generosity!
School Kitchens: Where the Magic Happens
Sitka School District’s Food Service Team
Under the leadership of Food Service Director Mandy Summer, the Sitka School District is leaning intentionally into local, high-quality, culturally relevant foods. Beginning in 2025–2026, school lunch planning is fully in-house creating even more opportunities for local seafood.
Mandy says the program reflects the values Sitka holds close. The seafood donations “encapsulate the heart of Sitka in such a unique way by bringing together the fishing industry, local foods, local business, students, and families through shared values,” she told the Sitka Sentinel. “It shows the strength of collaboration in our community, and highlights the importance of local seafood in our everyday lives.”
To the entire SSD Food Service staff:
Gunalchéesh for transforming local fish into meals that are nutritious, delicious, and connected to place.
Mount Edgecumbe High School’s Food Service Team
With students from communities across Alaska, MEHS understands the importance of familiar foods. Local salmon in the cafeteria helps students feel grounded, connected to home, and honored through culturally meaningful meals.
To the MEHS kitchen crew:
Thank you for turning community generosity into comfort, care, and belonging.
Why Fish to Schools Matters
Fish to Schools represents the full circle of a healthy, sustainable community. Each meal ties together: local fishermen, local processors and businesses, local schools and families, and local values of stewardship and reciprocity.
Access to traditional, culturally relevant foods also reconnects youth to our oceans, the Tongass, and the broader stewardship responsibilities they inherit.
This program is grounded in the vision of early champions like Lexi Fish and Beth Short Rhoades, whose efforts alongside other volunteers following the 2010 Sitka Health Summit helped turn a community dream into a reality. Their foundational work continues to guide the program today.
The Future of Fish to Schools
Sitka Conservation Society is committed to expanding the program’s reach and impact. Our policy team are working to ensure national food procurement programs better support local fish. The Fish to Schools program is donation-based, but one long-term goal is to shift institutional purchasing toward more sustainable, community-supported food systems that keep dollars circulating at home and supporting local food systems in more sustainable ways.
When federal systems invest in local seafood, they invest in: healthier kids, stronger economies, resilient fisheries, and the future of coastal communities. SCS is working to make that vision reality.
Supporting local food systems also means caring for the lands and waters that make those systems possible. Without healthy oceans and a well-managed Tongass National Forest, which is home to thousands of miles of salmon-bearing streams, programs like Fish to Schools and the fishing economies we depend on wouldn’t exist.
Sitka Conservation Society helps our community engage in the advocacy needed to protect these places, including the upcoming Tongass Land Management Plan revision. Public participation is essential. Thoughtful comments help shape a land management plan that supports our environmental health, our economic health, and the wellbeing of our community.
Fish to Schools Across the Country
Sitka is part of a larger movement. Communities from Dillingham to Cordova, from California to Maine, are working to bring local seafood into schools nationwide.
At the 2025 Local Seafood Summit hosted by the Local Catch Network, Maya Reda-Williams connected with fishermen, researchers, processors, and educators striving toward the same goal: community-based seafood systems that nourish the next generation.
Fish to Schools is growing—and Sitka is helping lead the way.
The Kids: The Heart of the Program
At its core, Fish to Schools is about joy, pride, and connection.
Every bite strengthens relationships between sea and table, between fishermen and students, between consumers and stewards and between our community and its future. This program gives kids the chance to learn that their food comes from the place they call home and that they belong to a community that cares for them.
For Parents: Spot the Fish to Schools Icon
Starting this year, a new Fish to Schools icon will appear on school lunch menus marking meals made with local seafood caught in Sitka waters and donated by our fishing community.
Here’s how you can help strengthen this local food system at home:
Choose local fish at home
Celebrate Fish to Schools days—circle the icon on the menu and share with your children what you’ve learned about this program.
Support the community partners who make this possible
Together, we’re raising a generation of young people who know—and care—where their food comes from. A generation of future Tongass stewards.
Rooted in Place, Nourishing the Future
Fish to Schools is a celebration of what makes Sitka strong: generosity, partnership, connection to place, and care for community. It’s a vision for a future where every student receives meals that are healthy, local, and culturally meaningful—meals that tell the story of this land and the people who depend on it.
Together, we are ensuring that Sitka’s children are nourished by food that is grounded in home, enriched by tradition, and sustained by community.
Gunalchéesh to everyone who made this record-breaking year possible.
Donations to Sitka Conservation Society help support our Fish to Schools programming and policy work.
Fish to Schools is powered by community generosity. Financial donations to Sitka Conservation Society help sustain this ongoing, donation-based program—from coordinating fish donations and processing to supporting education, outreach, and the behind-the-scenes work that keeps local seafood on school lunch trays. Donations also support SCS’s policy work to shift institutional purchasing toward local, community-based food systems so programs like Fish to Schools can thrive long into the future.
If you’re a fisherman interested in donating your catch, or if you have questions about supporting the program, please contact us at [email protected]. Together, we can keep nourishing Sitka’s kids while strengthening local fisheries, economies, and stewardship of the Tongass.