Saving Seafood

Alaska’s fledgling mariculture industry expands its reach; former Dunleavy staffer named to fish board

June 6, 2019 — More Alaskans are turning to seaweed farming as the state’s fledgling mariculture industry expands to more regions. Shellfish growers also are finding that an oyster/aquatic plant combo boosts their bottom line.

Sixteen applications were filed for new or expanding aquatic farms from January through April, of which 56% were for growing various kelp, 31% for a combination of Pacific oysters and kelp, and 13% for oysters only.

While 2019 saw the same number of applications as 2018, the underwater acreage increased considerably, said Cynthia Pring-Ham, aquatic farming coordinator at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which issues the farm permits.

“There were about 616 acres that were applied for in 2019 compared to 462 acres in 2018. That’s about a 33% increase,” she said, adding that Fish and Game partners with the state Department of Natural Resources, which leases the tidal and submerged lands where aquatic farming takes place.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

New report calls for balanced approach in growing US aquaculture industry

May 24, 2019 — A new report by an American think tank on the state of the U.S. aquaculture industry highlights the challenges and opportunities facing domestic seafood farming in state and federal waters.

The Washington, D.C., U.S.A.-based Center for American Progress found that aquaculture offers major economic benefits, but it must be balanced with regulations to ensure the proper location, farm management practices, and species selection.

The authors, Alexandra Carter and Miriam Goldstein, addressed the debate over the regular framework necessary to expand mariculture in federal waters, offering analysis on where the industry is today and how agencies and industry stakeholders can move forward.

Carter and Goldstein primarily saw a lack of information on the industry and they wanted to create an educational non-biased product, Carter told SeafoodSource.

“We wanted to provide a briefing of the sector,” Carter said. “We wanted to frame the project around the question on whether we should expand aquaculture into federal waters or not.”

Right now, Carter is encouraged to see the positive response from the industry and policymakers and hopes the report will provide a “baseboard” for other NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and think tanks to follow up and do their own ocean aquaculture analysis projects.

“While there has been congressional interest in regulating offshore aquaculture for a least a decade, it can best be characterized as intermittent,” the authors wrote in the report.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ALASKA: Emerging mariculture industry seeks to streamline permitting

May 6, 2019 — Alaska may be famous for its wild fish, but some are working to make room in the state’s waters for more shellfish, kelp, and crabs on aquatic farms.

Mariculture is a hot topic in fisheries right now. Essentially, mariculture can be defined as the cultivation of plants or animals in controlled saltwater environments, but in Alaska, it doesn’t include finfish, as that’s illegal in the state. So mariculture farmers have stuck to primarily kelp and oysters so far, but they’re starting to get more adventurous.

As of December 2018, 58 aquatic farms were operating in the state along with five hatcheries and seven nurseries, though only 41 of the farms documented production in 2017, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Oysters are still the most widely grown product, though kelp is gaining ground; after the first operations for kelp were permitted in 2016, four farms had produced 16,570 pounds of ribbon and sugar kelp by the following year.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce 

ALASKA: Mariculture industry has vast potential

August 21, 2018 — As Gov. Bill Walker prepares to sign a bill this week enacting the Alaska Mariculture Development Plan, 16 new applicants hope to soon begin growing shellfish and seaweed businesses in just more than 417 acres of tideland areas in Alaska.

The new growers will add to the 35 farms and six hatchery/nurseries that already are producing a mix of oysters, clams, mussels and various seaweeds. Eventually, sea cucumbers, scallops, giant geoduck clams and algae for biofuels will be added into the mix.

Most of the mariculture requests in Alaska are located in Southeast and Southcentral regions and range in size from 0.02 acres at Halibut Cove to 292 acres for two sites at Craig.

Data from the state Department of Natural Resources show that two farms have applied at Kodiak totaling nearly 37 acres, and one Sitka applicant has plans for a 15-acre plot. Other communities getting into the mariculture act include Seldovia, Port Chatham, Juneau, Naukati, Cordova, Ketchikan and Gustavus.

In 2017, Alaskan farms produced 11,456 pounds of clams, 1,678 pounds of mussels, 16,570 pounds of seaweeds and 1.8 million oysters.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

Alaska mariculture task force get closer to industry plan

January 24, 2017 — Gov. Bill Walker signed an administrative order in early 2015, creating a mariculture task force in hopes of boosting aquatic farming and fisheries. The task force has been examining all areas of the mariculture industry and will present a comprehensive plan to Walker in 2018.

The 11-member panel has split its resources into five advisory committees over the past year.

Among the many issues the committees have taken on are investment, infrastructure, regulatory, environmental and marketing.

Task force member Heather McCarty explained that the committees’ recommendations will be presented to Walker in spring 2018.

“The advisory committees have some of the task force on them, but they also have people from outside the task force, people who have specialties in various areas,” she said. “We’ve tried to bring in communities, travel groups, academia (and) regulatory groups.”

She said some pieces of the plan are already in action such as SB 172 and HB 300. Both are shellfish hatchery bills that were proposed last year and would allow Alaskans to establish nonprofit shellfish hatcheries.

Read the full story at KTOO

NOAA Fisheries offering industry-related loans

March 30, 2016 — NOAA Fisheries is accepting applications from commercial fishermen and those in the aquaculture industry looking for a share of NOAA’s $100 million in lending authority designated for fiscal 2016.

The loans, which run from five to 25 years, have market-competitive interest rates.

Eligible applicants include those working in aquaculture, mariculture, shoreside fisheries facilities and commercial fishermen.

Potential uses for the funds among applicants from aquaculture, mariculture and shoreside fisheries facilities include purchasing an existing facility, improvements to an existing facility, new construction and reconstruction.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times