Kelp farming in Alaska traces roots to hatcheries

Alaska’s burgeoning kelp farming industry has its success tied to two hatcheries and a law. Blue Evolution is working under a collaborative research and development agreement with NOAA to use the Kodiak Fisheries Research Center hatchery to grow the kelp seed that the company will supply to growers on partner farms.

“NOAA provides a space (no lease), and we capitalize the equipment,” says CEO Beau Perry. “And we work with them on various research threads.” Much of the east coast oyster industry technology was developed under this type of agreement with the NOAA facility in Connecticut in the early 1970s, Perry points out.

“Currently, there are many nascent aquaculture business across the country working with NOAA in this way,” he adds. The hatchery uses a recirculating system, and is able to utilize unused cold rooms at the facility, as opposed to water chillers. Perry estimates it has nearly 100 tanks, with capacity for several thousand spools and hundreds of thousands of feet of seeded string.

“We will certainly be pushing up against capacity as we are lowering the density of spools and tanks per cold room this season,” he explains. “But we can expand further using auxiliary space in the future.”