aquaculture
Alaska Sea Grant survey reveals challenges to mariculture industry caused by COVID-19 pandemic
Alaska Sea Grant recently surveyed the Alaska mariculture industry to shed light on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and response on their businesses in February and March. Survey respondents reported that revenue was down, with 43 percent reporting losses of more than half of their revenue. More than a third had laid off employees. …
Read MoreResearch will help seaweed farming and traditional aquaculture
Alaska Sea Grant has received new federal funds to help develop aquaculture projects in Alaska and to work with partners on regional and national priorities. It’s part of a $16 million award from National Sea Grant that will fund 42 collaborative aquaculture projects across the country. Alaska Sea Grant and the Aleutians East Borough will partner on a project to launch a…
Read MoreMariculture workshop kicks off in Kodiak
The Kodiak Archipelago Leadership Institute is offering a free, two-day workshop “Introduction to Mariculture in the Kodiak Region,” funded in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For the past three years, the institute has worked with partners to establish small farms in the communities of Larsen Bay, Old Harbor, Ouzinkie and Port Lions. The…
Read MoreChilkat Valley News: Local entrepreneur aims to start kelp farm
Demand for seaweed like kelp has grown over the past five decades, and mariculture produces more than 96 percent of the world’s supply of seaweed products, currently valued at $4-5 billion, according to a 2017 report from Alaska Sea Grant.
Read MoreBlue Starr Oyster Co. debuts new oyster nursery system
An Alaska oyster farmer on Prince of Wales Island is hoping that a new device he spent years helping to design will increase his oyster farming productivity and prove useful to other farmers around the state. The redesigned device is a 53-foot aluminum floating upweller system, or FLUPSY. It works by moving fresh seawater filled…
Read MoreSeaweed farmers in Alaska gear up for large haul
Blue Evolution is collaborating with the University of Alaska and Alaska Sea Grant on seaweed research aimed at developing cost-effective cultivation methods for several native species.
Read MoreJuneau oyster farmer battles red tape to grow family business
Meta Mesdag is a commercial photographer and mom to three young children. More recently, the Southeast Alaska resident added oyster farmer to her resume. Mesdag is the owner of Salty Lady Seafood Company, a small-scale mariculture operation in Bridget Cove, north of Juneau. She launched the company in April 2018 with the goal of having…
Read MoreOyster farmers face challenges and opportunities in Alaska
Mariculture is an emerging industry in Alaska that Alaska Sea Grant is helping to promote. Last week some of our faculty and staff gathered in Cordova with shellfish farmers, oyster spat growers and a kelp farmer to share ideas and strategies. It was part of the Alaska Shellfish Growers Association’s annual conference. Experts on marketing…
Read MoreSupport for Alaska’s blue economy signed into law
Alaska’s emerging mariculture industry is getting a boost. Gov. Bill Walker signed a bill this week making it easier for shellfish hatchery owners to access loan funds to grow their businesses. House Bill 76 amends the Alaska Mariculture Revolving Loan Fund so that non-profit hatcheries, not just individual farmers, can apply for loans to market seeds to grow seaweed,…
Read MoreMarine Advisory agent teaches ROV skills
(VIDEO: Watch Gary Freitag give instruction on how to use a remotely operated vehicle) There’s no typical day in the life of an Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory agent. Sometimes the work might involve disentangling a humpback whale caught in commercial fishing gear. Another day it could be performing a necropsy, rescuing a stranded baby…
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