The impacts of covid-19 highlighted long standing workforce development and food insecurity issues in alaska

The seafood industry has long provided the backbone of coastal economies but relied on outside labor for processing, marketing, and shipping. Quarantine requirements led to significant labor shortages and high costs. In addition, currently less than 1 percent of the seafood caught in alaska stays in alaska to benefit the local economy. Alaska is one of the top five most food insecure states in the nation. 95% of the $2 billion of food alaskan's purchase is imported. In the state, 14% of alaskans, including 20% of children, face food insecurity. In march 2020, the alaska longline fishermen's association and catch together formed a state-wide-coalition of non-profits, tribal organizations, military organizations, city and boroughs, foundations, fishermen, and seafood processors to address food insecurity and workforce development challenges. This initiative provided stipends andworkforce support to the seafood industry and deployed $2.5 million to purchase local seafood for distribution, providing 630,000+ free meals of alaska seafood to individuals and families facing food insecurity the goal of the proposed 2-year project is to build on this successful pandemic initiative by designing and implementing a planning and assessment process to establish a 10-year, statewide, seafood distribution and workforce development plan that includes a sustainable non-federal financial strategy to serve alaska's rural and historically marginalized communities.