U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials are seeking bids through May 23 to purchase 2.54 million pounds of Alaska pollock fillets and fish sticks for school lunch programs and other federal food and nutritional assistance programs in 17 states in the Lower 48.
The solicitation for bids was issued on May 9 and bid winners will be announced on May 23 for deliveries to be made between July 1 and Dec. 31.
School lunch and other food and nutrition programs will benefit in California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
The USDA effort to purchase more wild Alaska seafood comes in the wake of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Association and the state’s congressional delegation urging the department to make increased purchases of wild Alaska seafood.
