Members of the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region Aquaculture team attended the international seaweed growing conference Seagriculture, USA Sept.11-12 in Ketchikan, Alaska. The 2024 conference marks the event’s debut in Alaska, an exciting distinction for the growing Alaska aquaculture industry.
Participants hailed from locations around the world, including Israel, the Netherlands, and Vietnam. The United States and Alaska were well represented with industry members, regulators, and researchers. They came together to share successes and challenges around growing the U.S. aquaculture industry.
State of Alaska Commissioner of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development Julie Sande gave a keynote presentation highlighting the vast opportunity for aquaculture development in Alaska. She spoke about key investments and successful partnerships, including one between NOAA Fisheries and the State of Alaska to identify Aquaculture Opportunity Areas in state waters.
“It’s important for me to call this out, because one of the things about mariculture that is exciting in Alaska is that it’s an area where the federal government and the state government find a tremendous alignment,” Commissioner Sande stated during her presentation. “This is an industry that is environmentally friendly and sustainable and provides career opportunities and pathways for young Alaskans.”
Conference participants, including the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region Aquaculture team, also had the opportunity to tour the Commissioner’s family’s oyster farm, Hump Island Oyster Company.
Tour participants enjoyed a beautiful boat ride out to the floating Hump Island facility north of Ketchikan. Highlights of the tour included seeing a floating upweller system in action, and new OysterGro cages that improve farm yield and decrease labor time. Best of all, the tour participants got to taste some fresh-off-the-farm oysters. The NOAA Fisheries Alaska team may be biased, but we think Alaska oysters can’t be beat!
To round out a busy couple of days, Alaska Regional Aquaculture Coordinator Alicia Bishop provided a NOAA Fisheries perspective on a panel titled “How to Accelerate the U.S. Seaweed Industry.”
Echoing Commissioner Sande and many other speakers, Bishop highlighted the need to work together to grow a sustainable industry. “It’s critical that we bring all the players together, listen to what the issues are from both an industry and management perspective, and think strategically about how each of us can play our part in moving components forward,” she said. “There are areas where NOAA can help, like applied research, funding opportunities, and aiding in regulatory efficiency. But ultimately, it is going to take all of us working together to prioritize needs and target next steps.”
