Fact Sheet

Alaska Sea Grant enhances the sustainable use and conservation of Alaska’s marine coastal and watershed resources through research, education and outreach. Our services include:

• Applied, university-based research
• Training for Alaska’s $6 billion commercial fishing and seafood industry
• Marine literacy for Alaska school children and teachers
• Recruitment of the next generation of maritime leaders and fishermen

Alaska Sea Grant leverages its federal funds with University of Alaska state funds, external grants, donations and program income. For every $1 appropriated by Congress, Alaska Sea Grant brings in another $4 from additional sources.

We enhance coastal economies

Alaska Sea Grant has invested over $2.5 million in research and outreach support in Alaska’s growing mariculture industry over the last 10 years, including the potential for growing seaweed as a new Alaska industry.

We train Alaska’s workforce

Seafood processing training offered by Alaska Sea Grant meets the industry’s identified needs. The annual Alaska Young Fishermen’s Summit attracts hundreds of young, professional commercial fishermen. The Alaska Sea Grant State Fellowship, the Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship and graduate student traineeships all build the next generation of Alaska resource managers.

Our research contributes to community priorities

The Graying of the Fleet project examines the fisheries in Kodiak and Bristol Bay, identifying barriers to next generation entry to inform public policy and programs. We are also working with state, tribal and federal partners to develop a harmful algal bloom statewide network to support the subsistence harvest of shellfish and human health.

We link science with communities and students

Alaska Sea Grant’s Alaska Seas and Watersheds curriculum school grant program supports seas and watershed celebrations and teacher education in 19 Alaska communities. Residents in Cordova, Unalaska, Dillingham, Petersburg, Kodiak and Nome connect with researchers through Alaska Sea Grant-sponsored community science lectures and conferences.

More than 1,000 adults attend these lectures each year. Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory agents coordinate and support coastal community monitoring programs in the state, investigating trends in marine mammal health, paralytic shellfish toxins and potential range extension of invasive marine species.

Current fact sheet

• 2013–2017 highlights (2019, PDF)

Previous fact sheet

• 2010–2015 highlights (2017, PDF)