LIMITED EDITION BERING CISCO WHITEFISH

LIMITED EDITION BERING CISCO WHITEFISH
AVAILABLE IN TIME FOR HANUKKAH & HOLIDAYS

December 9, 2009, Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn-based Acme Smoked Fish and Kwik’pak Fisheries of Emmonak, Alaska, have teamed up with famed restaurateur Eli Zabar to introduce a new and unique limited-edition whitefish called Golden Smoked Bering Cisco at Zabar’s New York City hotspot, E.A.T., on Wed., Dec. 9.

The Kosher Kof-K certified fish is supplied as a specialty item only through Acme after it has undergone the company’s unique smoking process and can be found at specialty food stores in the New York area as well as selected markets throughout the USA.

Bering Cisco makes a delicious addition to any Hanukkah or holiday table, according to Buzz Billik, Acme Smoked Fish Vice President of Sales. It also adds to the traditional Sunday smoked fish meal, he said.

“We were more than pleasantly surprised with everything about this fish — the flavor, the texture, the size —Bering Cisco has all of the characteristics we look for in a smoked whole fish,” Billik said. “Our clientele has traditionally favored the Great Lakes chub, but they really could not tell the difference, mostly because these fish are larger like the early days when there were larger and even tastier chubs available. These fish are reminding an entire generation of years past.” The Great Lakes chub fishery has been declining for years, Billik said.

Bering Cisco, a whitefish that gets its name from the Bering Sea, is harvested by the Yupik fishing families of Alaska’s Yukon River Delta and is brought to market by Kwik’pak Fisheries, after which it is specially smoked and distributed by Acme.

Last year, the State of Alaska gave the Yupik Eskimo people—who sell their fish to Kwik’pak Fisheries — a 10,000 pound test quota of the fish. Acme bought the entire test quota of the fish and was delighted with the result. This year, Alaska’s fall commercial opening was 10,000 pounds; another 5,000 quota was made available in the winter fishery.

“If last year’s success with the test harvest of Bering Cisco is any indication, restaurants, delis, and retail outlets will be competing for the limited-edition smoked delicacy from Acme,” said Kwik’pak Fisheries General Manager Jack Schultheis.

“This is an important fish for the Yupik people, whose livelihoods depend upon the fishery resource on the Lower Yukon,” Schultheis said.

To help tell the story of the whitefish, Kwik’pak Fisheries has partnered with Oldways, an internationally recognized non-profit dedicated to changing the way people eat, which launched the Traditional American Table initiative in November to celebrate the old ways of eating and living here in the United States.

“We are pleased to be part of this launch as Bering Cisco whitefish is a great example of an Oldways Traditional American Table product,” said Sara Baer-Sinnott, Oldways’ Executive Vice President. “Bering Cisco is nutritious, sustainable and delicious.”