The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced plans to purchase more domestic fish and shellfish in 2022.
In a notice, the agency said it will be buying Alaska pollock, frozen Atlantic pollock fillets, canned pink salmon, frozen wild salmon fillets, haddock, and ocean perch.
The USDA said it will issue solicitations soon, so that suppliers can make bids to provide seafood for the National School Lunch Program and other federal food nutrition assistance programs.
Winning bidders must make deliveries from July 2022 through June 2023.
The USDA said solicitations for bids will be available electronically through its web-based supply chain management (WBSCM) system – a hard copy of the solicitation will not be available. Information on the bidding is available without an account on the WBSCM public procurement page., it said.
“Interested parties shall be responsible for ensuring that they have the most up-to-date information about this acquisition,” the USDA said.
The USDA has already made large purchases of salmon and Alaska pollock for this fiscal year.
In its most-recent award, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based OBI Seafoods won the majority of new pollock and salmon contracts worth nearly USD 62 million (EUR 57 million).
“The Biden/Harris administration is very focused on supporting our fishermen and other domestic food producers, as well as supporting our nation’s most vulnerable, including the 30-plus million children that depend on the National School Lunch program every day,” Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers CEO Craig Morris told SeafoodSource. “[GAPP is] grateful for our sustaining partnership with the Department of Agriculture and for [its] sustained purchases of wild Alaska pollock for [its] federal food and nutrition and assistance program.”
