Mariculture in the News
New Ketchikan company aims to kick-start Alaska kelp industry
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HB329 Passed through State Legislature
House Bill 329 has passed in Alaska State Legislature and is now awaiting final approval from Governor Dunleavy. This bill is relating to state tideland leases; relating to geoduck seed transfers; and relating to aquatic farming or related hatchery operation site...
NOAA Fisheries Releases New State of Alaska Aquaculture Report
The State of Alaska Aquaculture report is a first-of-its-kind overview of the aquaculture industry in Alaska, revealing the state’s opportunities and challenges to date. Visit NOAA's announcement page here, or click here to download the report.
Alaska Economic Trends December 2023: Aquaculture
In June of this year, Alaska was deemed a federal Aquaculture Opportunity Area (AOA). That means the state is environmentally, socially, and economically able to support multiple commercial aquatic farming operations. According to the The Department of Labor and...
Federally funded project will search for rare earth elements in Southeast Alaska seaweed
Funded by the U.S Department of Energy, the University of Alaska Fairbanks is leading a project in "algal mining" as part of a broader push for domestic rare earth elements. The Southeast Alaska project will launch in March with collection and analysis of various...
Cordova kelp farmers need to process their harvest. A scientist is piloting a solution
In order to grow the industry, Cordova’s kelp farmers need a way to process seaweed locally. Growers are hoping seaweed can help bolster and diversify the region’s economy. Local farmer says they’re facing one big problem with growing their business: there’s no...
NOAA Fisheries Denies Petition to List Bull Kelp
NOAA Fisheries has announced a negative 90-day finding on a petition to list the bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to designate critical habitat concurrent with the listing. In denying the...
Pingree Celebrates World Oceans Day with Introduction of Bipartisan Bill to Support Aquaculture Farmers and Harvesters
The Sustaining Healthy Ecosystems, Livelihoods, and Local Seafood (SHELLS) Act will create a program office for aquaculture within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to promote blue carbon ecosystems, protect food security, and bolster shellfish harvesters and...
AQUAA Act reintroduced in US Senate
U.S. lawmakers are making yet another attempt to pass the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act, a bill that would establish national standards for offshore aquaculture and streamline development.
NOAA Fisheries Selects Alaska to Begin Aquaculture Opportunity Area Identification
An Aquaculture Opportunity Area is a defined geographic area that NOAA has determined to be environmentally, socially, and economically appropriate to support multiple commercial aquaculture operations. NOAA also evaluates these areas through both spatial analysis and...