'Operation Fish Drop'

Hundreds of cars lined the road to the Alaska Native Heritage Center on Thursday and Friday, as Alaska Native elders and their families gathered to receive wild salmon through a grassroots initiative coined Operation Fish Drop.

In the end, more than 12,000 pounds of Bristol Bay sock-eye salmon were delivered to around 400 families. Tribal councils, local fisheries, and volunteers came together to run the initiative, which aimed to address food insecurities brought about by COVID-19.

In a typical year, most Alaska Natives would have been able to subsistence fish themselves, carrying on an age-old tradition and ensuring they had substantial food supplies for the winter. But many families were unable to do so this past fishing season due to constraints from COVID-19 -- making the prevention of a key Alaska Native cultural practice another unintended consequence of the pandemic.

https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/operation-fish-drop