Local Seafood Summit

The 4th Local Seafood Summit will be held at the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, AK on Oct 2-3, 2022. Alyeska is nestled along the Chugach Mountains and with scenic panoramic views and access to the Alaskan wilderness. 

Venue address: 1000 Arlberg Ave, Girdwood, AK 99587

Alyeska Resort is located 40 miles south of Anchorage along the scenic Seward Highway in the town of Girdwood, Alaska. Anchorage is serviced by Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, with direct flights from Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City and more.

Book your flight through the Alaska Airlines website and utilize the 7% off discount code: ECMD978

There are multiple ways to get to Alyeska Resort including; 

• Limited shuttle service to and from the Airport. Dates and times for shuttle transportation are:
  • Saturday, October 1 
    Times of Departure from Ted Stevens Airport to Alyeska Resort
    12pm | 3pm | 6pm
  • Tuesday, October 4
    Times of Departure from Alyeska Resort to Ted Stevens Airport
    6am | 9am | 12pm 
• Car rentals 
• Rideshares (Uber/Lyft). Estimated cost is $100+ one-way. 
• Alyeska Resort can arrange a taxi and/or car service. Contact the concierge to make arrangements 24 hours in advance at guestservices@alyeskaresort.com. Rates start at $125 one-way. 

Once you are in Girdwood there are numerous ways to get around town including walking, rental bikes or cars, and the Glacier Valley Transit, which is free to resort guests.

Interested in off setting your travel? Alaska Airlines has partnered with Carbonfund.org to help individuals calculate and off set their air travel. Clear, a Certified B Corps organization, also offers options to off set carbon associated with travel. 

Alyeska Resort has blocked rooms for summit attendees at a rate of $159/night (+ taxes and $20 resort fee/night). The hotel will reserve the block of rooms until 09-01-2022. Summit guest room rates will apply three (3) days prior and three (3) days following the scheduled event date. Attendees must identify themselves as being part of the Local Catch Seafood Summit to ensure the special event rate. Guests may call Room Reservations to make individual reservations at 907-754-2111 or 800-880-3880, or reserve rooms online using the group code “Catch2022”. Full prepayment of the stay is required at the time of reservation. 

Ski Inn is a boutique bed and breakfast inn located in downtown Girdwood with seven private rooms ranging from $89-$175/night (+ taxes). The Inn is located 2 miles from the summit venue. Reservations can be made on the Ski Inn website.

Alyeska Hostel has a limited number of shared and private rooms ranging from $25-$112/person (+ taxes). The hostel is located 2 miles from the summit venue. Contact the hostel directly to make a reservation– be sure to mention that you are attending the Local Seafood Summit. 

Other lodging options include local vacation rentals, VRBO, and AirBnB. 

We are thrilled to welcome Dune Lankard as the keynote speaker for the 2022 Local Seafood Summit. Dune’s story, mission, and values resonate with the Local Catch Network Core Values. Like many of LCN’s members, Dune is a changemaker who is continuously exploring ways to steward the environment and strengthen equitable and values-based food systems. 

An Eyak Athabaskan Native of the Eagle Clan, Dune grew up in Cordova, in southcentral Alaska. Born into a fishing family, his life education as a subsistence and commercial fisherman began at age five. He later earned a living as a fishery and processing consultant and commercial fisherman after high school. The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 transformed Dune into a social change activist and Native Rights leader. He has founded and co-founded several key organizations, including the Eyak Preservation Council (EPC), the FIRE Fund (Fund for Indigenous Rights and the Environment); the RED OIL Network (Resisting Environmental Degradation of Indigenous Lands), and the Native Conservancy. His tireless work has helped win the preservation of more than 1 million acres in the Gulf of Alaska coastline impacted by the Exxon spill and has received worldwide recognition, including Time magazine’s Hero of the Planet, as well as fellowships and awards with the Ashoka Foundation, the Hunt Alternatives Fund (Prime Movers), Future of Fish, Seaweb Seafood Champion, Utne Magazine (chose Dune as one of the Top 50 Visionaries Changing the World), among others.

More info coming soon. 

Speaker bios and session descriptions coming soon. 

• Building Engagement with Customers | Mon Appetit LLC
• Telling Your Story: Place, Harvester and Taste | Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association
• True Confessions of CSFs on the Journey of Scaling Up | Fishadelphia/Skipper Otto 
• Bellingham Dockside Market: an Experiment in a Multi-species, Multi-fisherman Local Dockside Market | Legoe Bay Fisheries/Whatcom Working Waterfront Coalition
• Bringing Kelp to Market: Farmer Perspectives | GreenWave
• Systems and Software for Resilient CSFs | Skipper Otto 
• Innovative Solutions for Onboard Processing | Net to Table Seafoods
• Increasing Access to Local Seafood and Incorporating more Local Seafood into the Emergency Food System | TBD
• Creating a More Resilient Food System Through Regional Partnerships | Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association/Alaskans Own
• Community-led Activism and Market Creation in the Gulf of Alaska: Working Toward Equity, Resiliency, and Access | Alaska Marine Conservation Council
• Fish Farming Futures: the Good and the Ugly | Don’t Cage Our Oceans
• NEYFA: A Makeover for the Graying of the Fleet in Northern New England | New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance
• Tackling the Climate Challenge: From Local Action to Continental Collaboration | Alaska Sea Grant Fellow with Northern Latitudes Partnerships
• Ride the Slow Fish Rising Tide | One Fish Foundation/Slow Fish 
• Putting Values into Practice for Local and Regional Seafood Systems | University of Maine 
• Various Applications of Sensory Science to Understand Consumer Seafood Behavior | UCSC/Ecotrust/OSU Food Innovation Center
  
• Comparative Analysis of State Regulation of Direct Sales of Seafood Products | National Sea Grant Law Center
• Sharing Knowledge: Communicating with Managers for Resilient Fisheries | University of Hawaii Manoa
• Climate Winners: Adapting to Shifting Species Distributions | Eating with the Ecosystem
  
  

Details coming soon.

Interested in contributing to the summit meals? We are soliciting seafood donations. Share and showcase your catch with summit attendees including seafood businesses, food service and food systems professionals. All seafood donors will receive recognition during summit mealtimes and in summit promotional materials. 

Share more information about the seafood you’d like to showcase by completing this form. 

We are bringing back the popular swag swap and silent auction! Designated tables will be set up near the registration table where you can display promotional items, swap “swag”, or donate items for the silent auction. 

Guidelines

• Bring promotional swag or auction items to the Summit
• There will be two sections including swaps and silent auction: 
  • • In the swaps section, leave something that you would like to share with others.
    • Feeling charitable? Donate something to the Local Catch Silent Auction. 
• Drop off your swag or auction items at the designated table during registration
• Be mindful of space and bring what you and others can easily transport.

What should you bring?

• Items with your business logo including t-shirts, hats, mugs, etc. 
• Paper items like newsletters, annual reports, research papers, etc.
• Shelf-stable, packaged seafood products, like canned salmon, dried seaweed
• Artwork, poetry, books, creative expressions
• A CSF subscription or gift cards
• Other items are also welcome! 

Interested in donating items for the silent auction? Please contact Kelly Harrell (akwildfish81@gmail.com). 

The Local Catch Network is hosting a 3-day, 2-night educational multi-day tour along the Kenai Peninsula in Southcentral Alaska following the Summit. Participants will have a chance to visit local seafood processing operations and fishing sites as well as spend time with local fishermen, food entrepreneurs, fishery experts, and community leaders. The group will depart from Alyeska Resort on the morning of Tuesday, October 4th and will spend two nights in the small fishing town of Homer, located in Kachemak Bay, before returning to Anchorage on the afternoon of Thursday, October 6th.

Participants are responsible for covering the cost of their own daily meals, lodging, and hired excursions (optional) during the field trip. The estimated cost of the field trip per person is $350-$450. Note that expenses will vary depending on choice of transportation, meals, and lodging.

Space for the field trip is limited and spots are currently full. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, please contact Elizabeth Herendeen (elizabeth@salmonstate.org).

As the main conference organizer, the Local Catch Network will keep up to date with the latest COVID policies and regulations for gatherings. Attendees may be required to wear masks indoors and provide proof of a negative COVID test, regardless of vaccination status. More information will be provided closer to the time of the event. 

The scholarship application period has officially closed. 

LCN seeks to remove barriers for participation for all attendees but we acknowledge barriers may be greater for groups most impacted by inequities. Priority may be given to seafood harvesters and impacted community members. Scholarship awards will be distributed pending financial needs and available funds. No guarantee of partial or full summit scholarships and/or travel assistance can be made in advance of scholarship notification.

If you are in need of financial support in order to attend the summit, please contact Jordan Richardson (jordan.richardson@maine.edu).