Kelp farming gains traction in Alaska

The recent expansion of kelp farming in Alaska has Julie Decker, chair of the Alaska Mariculture Task Force, excited.

“The 2018 Alaska Mariculture Development Plan aims to grow the mariculture industry in Alaska by $100 million in the next 20 years,” Decker explains. “The new applications we have seen from kelp farmers over the last two years are pretty exciting.”

Wild fish capture is still king in Alaska, where growing finfish is illegal. That leaves mariculture, the farming of all other aquatic species, to balance the highly seasonal work of ocean fishing. Oysters are the top cultured species in the state. But the industry for sugar kelp (saccharina) and ribbon kelp (alaria) is expanding.