A year ago, Trevor Sande wasn\u2019t thinking much about seaweed.<\/p>\n
Early this November, however, he and the employees at Hump Island Oyster Company in Ketchikan, which Sande founded and owns, will plant five acres of bull kelp and ribbon kelp, all originating from local seaweed.<\/p>\n
Seaweed isn\u2019t yet a big part of commercial mariculture in Alaska \u2014 but researchers at the University of Alaska Southeast and seaweed product company Blue Evolution are working to change that.<\/p>\n
UAS professor of chemistry and biochemistry Mike Stekoll has been researching the viability of different kinds of seaweed grown commercially in Alaskan waters, recently funded by Premium Oceanic (Blue Evolution\u2019s parent company) and grants.<\/p>\n
Stekoll is testing out species including sugar kelp, bull kelp, black seaweed, alaria (a kind of kelp similar to wakame, the Japanese name for seaweed most commonly found in seaweed salad), dulse (palmeria moliis), which has a high protein content compared to other seaweeds, and nori, which most people know as the kind of seaweed used to wrap sushi or to snack on.<\/p>\n
Sugar kelp and alaria especially are some \u201cwe think\u2026 are going to be the crops that are relatively easy to grow, have a big yield, and have an existing global market,\u201d said Beau Perry, founder and owner of Premium Oceanic. Blue Evolution, its trademark, makes \u201chigh-end food products\u201d \u2014 pasta with powdered seaweed worked into it and pestos, for example. In Mexico, where it already has an operation, it\u2019s growing sea lettuce.<\/p>\n
Stekoll and a team including lead technician Tamsen Peeples and technician Eric Fagerstrom are testing seaweed outside the lab, as well. Off the shore of Coghlan Island, buoys mark not crab pots, but longlines of string seeded with sugar kelp and alaria, both of which grow naturally in Southeast. They\u2019re measuring nitrogen, phosphorus, turbidity, salinity, light and other variables, and evaluating the seaweed\u2019s growth, fertility and health at different stages, including stages well beyond when most growers would harvest, and seaweed planted beyond when growers would normally plant.<\/p>\n
This year, Juneau \u2014 and Stekoll\u2019s lab \u2014 will supply seed to the three farms currently growing it, Perry said; they recently received a seaweed hatchery permit from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. It will be in the first floor of UAS\u2019 Anderson Building and will put out string seeded with different kinds of seaweed.<\/p>\n
Next year, Perry said the hatchery will likely expand.<\/p>\n
Farming<\/strong><\/p>\n Perry presented last year \u2014 and will present again this year \u2014 at the Alaska Shellfish Growers Association, which is where Sande heard about the opportunity. Oyster farmers, he said, are \u201cprime candidates\u201d for the crop.<\/p>\n Perry, who has an MBA in sustainable business management, said one of the benefits of seaweed is that it\u2019s \u201crestorative, in many respects, of the ecosystem. There\u2019s very little downside.\u201d<\/p>\n Seaweed also serves as a buffer for ocean acidification, which can help protect oysters.<\/p>\n Besides Sande\u2019s, the other two farms in Alaska that will grow seafood this year are 1-acre farms in Kodiak that will start from scratch, Perry said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re pretty bullish about it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just something that aligns with trends where people want to \u2026 know the grower, know the source of their food, and see the benefits shared all the way to the hands that cultivate and harvest these crops.\u201d<\/p>\n Seaweed in Southeast<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s been a big year for Sande\u2019s Ketchikan oyster farm, started five years ago. In addition to their upcoming planting of seaweed, they just began selling their oysters a few weeks ago. (Sande also has a day job as the president and principal engineer of R&M Engineering in Ketchikan.)<\/p>\n Next year, Sande hopes to plant sugar kelp, as well.<\/p>\n He\u2019ll grow the seaweed on longlines, with one end of a line attached to the beach, and the other to an anchor, he said. They\u2019ll plant in early November and harvest in March or April, depending on how the season has gone.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a winter cycle, so it\u2019s perfect for oyster farming,\u201d he said. \u201cThe two go together really well in theory.\u201d<\/p>\n Perry said he hopes to lead efforts to make Alaska \u201cone of the major seaweed-producing regions in the world within the next decade.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re really excited to work in Alaska,\u201d Perry said. \u201cIt\u2019s a tough place to do business, but it has really excellent people and is, I think, a place that can really use a new seaweed industry \u2026 it may not replace the oil industry, but it can be part of a new economy for the state \u2014 one that creates jobs and is built upon a series of products that the state can really take pride in.\u201d<\/p>\n Blue Evolution\u2019s website is blueevolution.com<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 Contact Capital City Weekly staff writer Mary Catharine Martin at maryc.martin@capweek.com.<\/em><\/p>\n Read more Capital City Weekly:<\/strong><\/p>\n Canoe likely to be the first 3D-imaged for teaching, models<\/a><\/p>\n Moose butchering: Local foods project turns to game<\/a><\/p>\n