FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: USDA Awards Tlingit & Haida $208,000 for Herring Roe Program

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

USDA Awards Tlingit & Haida $208,000 for Herring Roe Program

JUNEAU, AK (September 15, 2022) – The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit & Haida) has signed a cooperative agreement under the new Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agriculture Marketing Services.

The LFPA uses American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to improve food and agriculture supply chain resiliency. The USDA announced it will award a total of up to $400 million “through non-competitive cooperative agreements with state and tribal governments to support local, regional, and underserved producers through the purchase of food produced within the state or within 400 miles of delivery destination.”

For Tlingit & Haida, that means the ability to purchase and distribute locally grown, produced and processed foods from underserved producers.

“This funding comes at a critical time as we work to address food insecurity in our region,” said Tlingit & Haida President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson. “With the rising cost of food and limited transportation options, our rural communities are experiencing food shortages like never before. This will help us develop the food systems we need by expanding access to locally grown and harvested food.”

In April 2022, Tlingit & Haida used APRA funds to purchase herring roe on kelp from tribal citizen permit holders on Prince of Wales Island. The Tribe gave out more than 14,000 pounds of herring eggs to more than 3,000 tribal citizens.

The LFPA awarded a $208,000 grant to Tlingit & Haida to continue this program in 2023. The funds will continue to support 15 local Alaska Native food producers who harvest roe on kelp and improve food security in rural Southeast Alaska villages by providing the highly nutritious traditional food directly to tribal citizens.

“It’s an honor and joy to be able to support our tribal citizen commercial fishermen and women, and we take great pride in being able share the highly esteemed herring roe on kelp product with our tribal citizens,” said Traditional Food Security Manager Anthony Lindoff. “The Traditional Food Security program is excited to bring these types of opportunities forward and are grateful for USDA programs that help us with that mission.”

Tlingit & Haida is the second recipient of an LFPA grant in Alaska this year. In July, the USDA announced funds to support growth of regional farming through pilot programs with Qik’rtaq Food Hub in Kodiak, Alaska. Nationwide, grants have also been awarded to Indigenous projects from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe, Mashantucket Tribal Nation, Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians and the Blue Lake Rancheria Reservation.

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Contact:

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Heather Hintze, Media & Communications Specialist

Phone: 907.463.7199 | Email: communications@ccthita-nsn.gov

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