seafood – Alaska Sea Grant

A seafood success story

By Tom Moran | August 13, 2026

A smiling middle-aged man with big black and gray hair and a graying beard, in a blue shirt and black baseball cap.

A 14-hour shift can’t dampen Jake Merzoian’s enthusiasm for Alaska Sea Grant. “I’m really aspiring to get into upper management, and here’s this program that’s been able to help me…

Alaska Oyster Voyage sets sail

By Alaska Sea Grant | July 30, 2026

If you’re an oyster aficionado in Alaska or just curious about oysters, there is a new website just for you. Alaska Sea Grant recently partnered with the Alaska Shellfish Growers…

Enhancing safety culture in mariculture

By Tom Moran | July 10, 2026

Three people sit inside a bulbous orange capsule designed for survival at sea.

There will likely never be a reality show called “Deadliest Kelp.” But even if mariculture in Alaska doesn’t have the same dangerous reputation as commercial fishing, it’s still a hazardous…

Alaska Sea Grant shines at D.C. fish fry

By Alaska Sea Grant | July 9, 2026

Three people pose in an outdoor booth labeled “Alaska Sea Grant.” Various cookware for a fish fry sit on tables in front of them.

Alaskan cod and rockfish don’t generally stray out of the state’s waters, but a select few of them recently made it all the way to Washington D.C. The two Alaskan…

Mariculture Conference draws a crowd

By Tom Moran | April 7, 2026

A fancy tray of oysters, with a hand in a blue glove holding an oyster shucker.

All photos by Jessica Whitney/Alaska Sea Grant Alaska’s enthusiasm for mariculture was evident at last month’s Mariculture Conference of Alaska. More than 300 people gathered in Anchorage for the three-day…

Testing the waters of mariculture

By Tom Moran | March 31, 2026

A women, wearing a blue top and yellow lab gloves, displays a small plate covered with small red round slimy creatures.

An Alaska Sea Grant partnership enabled a group of Alaska Natives to dip their proverbial toes into the mariculture industry. In February, Alaska Sea Grant collaborated with the Central Council…

Next generation of Alaska fishermen gather for summit

By Tom Moran | February 20, 2026

A group of 25 mostly young men and women stand outside the ornate front of the Alaska State Capitol.

The first time Noah Swenson attended the Alaska Young Fishermen’s Summit (AYFS), he found a boat. The second time, he found his voice. In 2024, the then-27-year-old Homer fisherman spent…

Hooking Nome students on HAB research

By Tom Moran | February 9, 2026

A high school student in a brown parka and black pants holds a small fish in his hand and smiles broadly. He sits on the ice with his other hand holding a stick with a line running into the hole. Beside him are a clipboard and a bucket.

Ice fishing is not the most common method of data collection. But for students at Nome-Beltz High School, a couple of afternoons in December spent jigging for tomcod was a…

Oyster farmers learn the trade at Prince of Wales workshop

By Alaska Sea Grant | November 18, 2025

Participants in a workshop stand on docks of an oyster farm listening to an instructor. They stand next to oyster sorting equipment and boats, surrounded by calm water and forested hills under a bright blue sky.

For three days in September, the future of Alaskan oyster farming got to learn some lessons from its present. The Alaska Sea Grant Oyster Farming Operations Workshop gave six farmers…

National Seafood Month: The science of seafood

By Kyle Kolda | October 7, 2025

close-up view of several stripes of smoked salmon resting on a metal rack that is halfway pulled out from a commercial smoker.

Seafood is as much a science as it is a business. At the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, Alaska Sea Grant’s Chris Sannito works at this intersection by helping…