Seattle Kraken home game menu has Alaska twist

A new partnership between the Seattle Kraken and Bristol Bay fishermen offers fans of the National Hockey League team wild Alaskan salmon and Pacific cod to snack on during home games at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena.

Bristol Bay Native Corp. announced the opening of the Bristol Bay Wild Market at the arena on September 1st in partnership with the NHL team, BBNC, the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association and the Bristol Wild Seafood Company, a subsidiary of BBNC.

“As a proud partner of the Seattle Kraken, creating the Marketplace with your incredible partners is the natural next step in promoting the best of Bristol Bay while educating arena attendees about Alaska and the brave, collaborative spirit of our people,” said Jason Metrokin, president and chief executive officer of the regional Alaska Native Corporation.

For Andy Wink, Executive Director of BBRSDA, the new marketplace connected to the professional ice hockey team is an opportunity to share the stories of the Bristol Bay driftnet fleet and organization and to give ice hockey fans a taste of Bristol Bay’s famous wild salmon and Pacific cod from the Bering Sea.

“Respect for the environment and the treatment of fish results in a better quality product and will help our customers understand what sustainable fishing means for future generations,” said Everette Anderson, President of BWSC.

Companies and environmental organizations with a strong association with the famous sockeye salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, with a harvest of over 40 million salmon in 2021, have continuously sought to promote the importance of a healthy habitat for the salmon fishery, which supports thousands of jobs as well as livelihoods many residents of the area and the food for large numbers of wildlife in Southwest Alaska. Fishermen and conservation groups fear that the proposed pebble mine, which borders the Bristol Bay watershed, will pose a serious environmental risk to salmon spawning habitat. The mine’s promoters have claimed that the massive mine can be built and operated without causing any environmental damage to the fishery.