Kelp farming pitched to Alaska lawmakers as boost for coastal economies and food security

Jason, executive director of the Alaska Mariculture Alliance, and Kodiak kelp farmer Nick presented to lawmakers and conference attendees about the growth and methods of Alaska mariculture, saying the industry can provide jobs, local food and environmental benefits.

The presenters told the session that a federal Build Back Better grant awarded $49,000,000 to Southeast Conference — with roughly half the funding directed to rural and Alaska Native communities — has funded liaison contracts, workforce development, research and equipment for mariculture. The speakers also said the Alaska Legislature provided a $5,000,000 matching grant to support farms and modernize processing.

Jason described mariculture as a way to “produce healthy food for our state without the inputs that you get in terrestrial farming,” and said farms can pull nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus from ocean water and create a “halo effect” that benefits nearshore ecosystems.

Nick, who described himself as one of Alaska’s early commercial kelp farmers, said Kodiak producers have harvested nearly 1 million pounds of kelp in recent years across multiple farms. He described the mechanics of farming — collecting sorus tissue, producing seed string in hatcheries, outplanting seed on lines and harvesting — and showed that dense line layouts can yield large biomass on small footprints. He said his permitted site is 17 acres with a 5-acre surface footprint in active production, with roughly 55,000 feet of lines on site.

Presenters gave several production and permitting figures: they said Alaska has about 36 mariculture farms statewide (9 kelp-only, 14 mixed-operations), that kelp farms in total represent roughly 2,370 acres of permitted area of which only about 10% is actively farmed, and that an example harvest year produced about 250,000 pounds on a 5-acre site. Presenters said seed collection rules require growers to collect seed material from within 50 kilometers of a site and to gather multiple fertile plants for genetic diversity.

Speakers described a range of markets under development. They said processors are emerging in Kodiak and elsewhere to serve food, livestock feed and agricultural bio‑stimulant markets; presenters described a fermentation stabilization method that produced a shelf‑stable kelp product tested as a pig feed that, in the reported study, improved sow productivity and reduced antibiotic use. Presenters said much processing remains grant‑supported while markets scale.

Presenters described other projects and funding sources supporting mariculture development: a multiyear Department of Energy/ARPA‑E project to develop harvest technology, an Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Fund project testing oysters grown above kelp farms, and Build Back Better funds supporting liaison contracts and local outreach. They also noted that permitting is rigorous: state Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Marine Fisheries Service and NOAA review sites and set mandatory anchoring and stability requirements.

In a short Q&A, an attendee named Jan asked whether Build Back Better funds are at risk under recent executive orders; presenters answered that none of the executive actions targeted their work and that they had been told they could continue spending the grant. Attendees also asked about storm stability, interactions with mammals and pests, and year‑round production. Nick said some farms are now permitted year‑round and that combining kelp with shellfish (oysters, geoduck, urchins) could enable more continuous harvest cycles.

Presenters urged lawmakers and local officials to support continued funding for training, processing and market development so the nascent industry can scale, and invited follow‑up contact. Heather McCarty, listed in the audience as board president of the Alaska Mariculture Alliance, and Dan West of Southeast Conference joined presenters for brief remarks during the session. Representative Stutes hosted the presentation.

While presenters framed mariculture as an economic and environmental opportunity for coastal communities, they repeatedly noted constraints: permitting complexity, the need to expand processing markets beyond grant support, and the work required to develop year‑round production and export channels. The session closed with an offer to answer follow‑up questions from lawmakers and staff.