Economic Analysis to Inform the Alaska Mariculture Initiative: Phase 1 Case Studies

The potential economic impact of a fully developed mariculture industry in Alaska is not well understood by industry or policymakers. It is also not entirely clear what is needed to move from Alaska’s current micro industry to a fully developed industry. The Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) has been awarded a grant from NOAA in order to spearhead the Alaska Mariculture Initiative (AMI) with the following goals: (1) expand the stakeholder base, create partnerships, and increase capacity to be effective; and (2) develop a clear and comprehensive strategic plan, including a written commitment to implement the plan by the various stakeholders and agencies. Northern Economics, Inc. was contracted by AFDF to conduct an economic analysis to help inform decisions to be made in the creation of the AMI strategic plan. The economic analysis will contain three phases:

• Phase I: Comparative case studies which outline examples of successful mariculture industries in different regions of the world
• Phase II: Preliminary economic analysis to support the development of a statewide strategic plan
• Phase III: Analysis of the costs, benefits, and economic impact of the statewide strategic plan developed as part of the AMI

This report represents the work completed for Phase 1. Funding for Phases II and III is pending.

In this report we describe nine case studies. Drawing on existing literature, each case study includes (1) a description of the industry; (2) the current economic impact of the industry, (3) the history and reasons for the industry’s growth, as well as past and current obstacles to growth; (4) best available estimates of private and public investments in order to reach current levels of development; (5) estimates of costs and benefits of the return on investment in these regions; and similarities and contrasts to Alaska (e.g., workforce, transportation, government support programs) and relevance and applicability of the industry’s experiences to Alaska. Case studies completed include:

• Alaska salmon enhancement
• Alaska king crab enhancement
• Washington geoduck
• Florida hard cams
• Ireland Seaweed
• Spanish mussels
• Prince Edward Island mussels
• New Zealand mussels
• British Columbia First Nations aquaculture

These case studies provide insights into best practices in development of strategic mariculture initiatives, and attributes and characteristics (such as access to markets, employment base, government and public support, etc.) that have led to the success of mariculture development in other parts of the world. These factors can be compared to the current social, economic, regulatory, investment and political climate in Alaska to allow for efficient and effective development planning and implementation. The following subsections provide brief descriptions of each case study.