New Local Fish Fund Offers
Fishers, Towns Support
Local Fish Fund, a fisheries loan program designed to provide a new financing tool for the next generation of commercial fishers in Alaska’s fishing communities, has been launched.
It is a collaborative effort spearheaded by the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust, a Sitka-based nonprofit organization that protects and promotes fishing and fisheries, Linda Behnken, a founding member of the trust, said in a press release.
The loan fund aims to support Alaska’s fishing communities by reducing specific barriers to entry into commercial fisheries and engaging next-generation fishermen in marine stewardship and policy leadership. Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust was supported in setting up and capitalizing the fund by The Nature Conservancy, Craft3, Rasmuson Foundation, and Catch Together.
“The cost and risk involved in accessing Alaska’s quota share fisheries are comparable to purchasing a hotel as a first step in home ownership,” Behnken said. “As a result, the number of young rural residents entering the fisheries has dropped over the past 15 years. Local Fish Fund aims to change that trend by lowering barriers to entry while engaging the next generation of community-based fishermen in resource conservation and management.”
The Local Fish Fund loan structure has been developed in close consultation with commercial fishermen in Alaska to increase local ownership of halibut and sablefish quota. Traditional commercial fish loans require fixed payments, which can be risky for entry-level commercial fishing businesses because the allowable catch and fish price can vary dramatically from year to year.
In contrast, the Local Fish Fund loans use a “revenue participation” approach in which loan repayment is based on fish landings rather than a fixed loan repayment structure. It offers loans with competitive interest rates and reduced down payment options, and allows fishermen to build equity to eventually access conventional loans, the press release said.
“Alaska has some of the most sustainably managed fisheries in the world,” said Christine Woll, the Southeast Alaska program director for The Nature Conservancy. “This is due in large part to Alaskans having an active voice in how our fisheries are managed. Encouraging local participation in our commercial fisheries helps foster a long-standing Alaska tradition of community-based stewardship of our natural resources.”
In addition to the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust, the launch of the fund was supported by the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, which has a long history of leadership in Alaskan fisheries management; The Nature Conservancy, which has worked with fishing communities to develop economic incentives for fisheries conservation in communities across the globe; and Craft3, a community development financial institution, which provides loans to benefit Pacific Northwest communities, and is originating and servicing loans on Local Fish Fund’s behalf.
The Rasmuson Foundation and Catch Together have capitalized the loan fund, which will seek to make a series of loans over the next two to three years.
‘Moby’ Puts Down Roots
For a Garden Project
By CHARLES BINGHAM
Special to the Sentinel
During the Pacific High School gardening class on Feb. 15, school social worker Maggie Gallin, who teaches the class, was showing the students around Moby the Mobile Greenhouse when she asked the students to visualize what they wanted to grow in the greenhouse this year. Moby arrived in Sitka earlier in the week, just in time for the Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit.
The students already have raised garden beds outside the school where they grow more traditional food crops for Sitka, such as lettuce, kale, potatoes, carrots, etc. So the students were a bit more daring in their choices.
George wants to try growing citrus plants. Hannah wants to grow peppers, Doug wants to grow bell peppers, while Karl and Jayvan want to try growing corn. These are crops that need a greenhouse to grow in Sitka, and they won’t grow well outside; the climate isn’t hot enough.
“Our culinary program is really strong,” Gallin said. “But we have a garden program and a subsistence program that we want to get stronger. This will be a mini-learning lab for us on a small scale, and the students want to experiment.”
Pacific High School is Sitka’s alternative high school, which promotes different styles of learning and more personal attention. Principal Mandy Summer, who taught gardening classes before she became principal, said the school built its first raised garden bed in 2010 after Phil Burdick’s English class read the Paul Fleischman novel ‘‘Whirligig,’’ and the garden bed served as a place to put the whirligigs the class made where they could catch the wind. To supplement the novel, the class read articles about how to grow plants.
Over time the project grew into two classes, including one on how to build such things as more garden beds, a composter, a sifter and other items for the garden.
The addition of Moby the Mobile Greenhouse is expected to elevate the garden class project at Pacific High School. Moby is a tiny house greenhouse project that travels to different schools in Southeast Alaska by Grow Southeast in partnership with the Sustainable Southeast Partnership, Spruce Root and the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition. It was built with support from the University of Alaska Southeast, the Juneau School District, the Nature Conservancy and the Sitka Conservation Society. Before coming to Sitka, Moby spent a year each in Kake, Hoonah and Yakutat.
“Our (Pacific High’s) theme this year is growth and legacy, and Moby fits our theme,” Gallin said. “The students will be leaving something behind, and they’ll be contributing something that’s individually fulfilling.”
Moby is the size of a tiny house, and it can be pulled behind a pickup truck. There are six small garden beds inside about waist height (three on each side), plus places for hanging baskets. In addition, there are rain gutters to catch rainwater to use in the garden beds. The program’s link includes a handout about Moby and a downloadable curriculum for the teachers to use.
The Pacific High School garden program already has several student-built raised garden beds, a composter, a sifter, and a small older greenhouse (from a kit) behind the school.
“Part of having Moby here is for our partnership with Baranof Elementary School, where our kids can be mentors,” Summer said, adding that in time the school hopes to grow enough food for the school lunches at both Pacific High and Baranof Elementary. There is a plot of land behind the school where Summer, Gallin and others at the school are hoping to expand the garden program, and that includes having a greenhouse or high tunnel to extend the garden season. “The plan is to have a more permanent structure.”
Pacific will have Moby through October, when the garden season ends.
“I’m excited for more fresh produce in lunch, and working with kids,” sophomore Melissa Gibson said.
“I want to grow stuff and take care of it,” sophomore George Stevenson added.
While in Sitka, Claire Sanchez of the Sitka Spruce Tips 4-H program will work with Gallin. The staff at Pacific hopes having Moby in Sitka will encourage more people in town to garden.
“One of the stats Sustainable Southeast Partnership wants us to track is how many gardens are inspired by Moby,” Gallin said.
Climate Meeting
Set Saturday
The Sitka Citizens Climate Lobby will meet 8:30 a.m. Saturday, March 9, at the See House behind St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.
Those interested in bipartisan federal legislation addressing climate change are welcome.
First-Graders Have
Concert Thursday
Baranof Elementary School first-graders will present their ‘‘It’s a Wonderful World’’ concert 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 7, at the Performing Arts Center.
BMS Yearbooks
Available to Order
Blatchley Middle School is accepting orders until April 18 for its annual yearbook.
Go to bmsyearbook.picaboo.com to order a softcover book for $20 or hardcover for $30.
Rummage Sale
Slated Saturday
A rummage sale will be held 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, March 9, at the Blatchley Middle School multipurpose room.
Food, including biscuits and gravy and chowder and bread, will be available for purchase. Donations of rummage items can be dropped off 7 p.m. Friday, March 8. All proceeds will support the local roller derby team.
This Week in Girls on the Run
Girls on the Run is a national empowerment-based program for girls in third through fifth grades, currently in its 11th season at Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School.
GOTR is more than an after-school activity: it is a program designed to bring girls together with strength and resilience and prepare them for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. Through dynamic, interactive lessons and running games, GOTR prepares girls for a final celebratory 5K Fun Run while teaching life-skills and unleashing confidence.
During the first few weeks of the program, participants have been focusing on “Choosing to be a GOTR.” Teams talk about how each of us has the ability, every day, to choose to respect ourselves and others with our words and actions. Some days we might need support from others to make that choice, and it is okay to ask for help.
Here’s what participants have to say about what a GOTR chooses to do:
“Think good about yourself and others.”
“Be positive not negative.”
“Never give up, and encourage other people to try something new.”
Throughout this season, GOTR will keep providing the Sitka community with updates from the program. We also hope to give mentors and parents an opportunity to pass on skills from GOTR to the youths in your life. Here are some conversation starters for talking with kids about positive self-talk (adapted from the GOTR Grown-up Guide®).
–Do we sometimes do things without thinking about them? What is something that you do every day without thinking about it?
–Why is it important for us to think about why we do the things we do instead of just doing them?
–We all have positive thoughts sometimes and negative thoughts sometimes. How do you feel when there are negative thoughts in your head? Positive thoughts?
–Is it our choice to plug into positive or negative thoughts? (Yes!)
Girls on the Run is brought to you by Sitkans Against Family Violence. Call 747-3493 or email gotr@safv.org for more information.
Women’s Book
Group to Meet
The Women’s Book Group will meet to discuss ‘‘Fascism: A Warning,’’ by Madeleine Albright, 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, at the Pioneers Home Chapel.
All women are invited to participate. Those with questions can call Dorothy at 747-3412.
S.E. Subsistence
Council to Meet
The Southeast Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council will meet March 19-21 at the Nolan Center in Wrangell. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. on March 19, and at 9 a.m. on March 20 and 21.
The council will develop proposals to change federal subsistence hunting and trapping regulations and discuss other issues related to subsistence in the Southeast Alaska Region.
The public is invited to attend and participate in the meeting. To teleconference, dial toll-free (866) 560-5984 (passcode: 12960066).
All meeting materials may be found here: https://www.doi.gov/subsistence/regions. Those wanting documents mailed, faxed, or emailed should contact the Office of Subsistence Management, at (800)478-1456, (907)786-3888 or by e-mail at subsistence@fws.gov. Those having requests for sign language interpreting services, closed captioning, or other accommodation needs also should contact the office.
Additional information on the Federal Subsistence Management Program may be found on the web at www.doi.gov/subsistence or by visiting www.facebook.com/subsistencealaska.
