Daily Sitka Sentinel

Chamber Told of Mariculture Opportunities

By BRIELLE SCHAEFFER

Sentinel Staff Writer

Alaska has the potential to shell out some big money in mariculture, an industry expert says. 

Markos Scheer, a Seattle-based attorney who also works with the Alaska Mariculture Task Force, told Sitka Chamber of Commerce members Wednesday that the state plans on growing its aquatic cultivating industry to $1 billion in 30 years.

That’s the plan of the group’s initiative, at least. Although that seems big, Scheer said,  “it’s really not the high of a target.”

“One percent of Alaska’s coastline has the production capacity to exceed the rest of the U.S.,” said Scheer, who also is on the Alaska Fisheries Development Association and Sitka Chamber of Commerce boards. “It’s entirely attainable.”

Mariculture could mean many things to the state – growing and harvesting seaweed, oysters, clams, mussels or crabs, but never fish.

“It is not fin fish farm,” he said. “Commercial fishing is an essential pillar in Alaska’s economy.”

Mariculture in the form of oyster farming has been in Alaska for some 100 years, Scheer said. Today, there are  about 30 farms around the state and business is growing. 

That’s where the Task Force comes in.

Its mission is to “enhance wild fisheries and aquatic farming,” among other things, Scheer said.

Members’ vision is that mariculture could be a public-private partnership, he said.  

The 11-member Task Force is working on recommendations that it will forward to the state by January 2018 that could be considered by legislators  in the next session. Chris Whitehead of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska is also on the Task Force. 

The industry would provide jobs and commerce to communities across the state; it’s environmentally friendly and fits in with the culture and infrastructure of coastal towns, Scheer said.

Take seaweed, for example. 

One hundred acres of seeds can produce three million pounds of kelp, which sells for about $2.5 million. The plant is also environmentally friendly because it takes carbon dioxide out of the water.

“It can be used as a counter to ocean acidification,” Scheer said.

Kelp can also be cultivated using long-lining equipment, which coastal communities already have. 

“It fits in with the current industrial complex,” he said. “Part of what I think is so important to development is we don’t want to recreate the wheel.”

Another key is that kelp is grown in the wintertime, so it won’t interfere with fishing seasons or summer recreation, Scheer explained. One business in Juneau – Wild Alaska Kelp Co. – is even making salsa out of its bounty, he said.

Another business, OceansAlaska, a nonprofit hatchery in Ketchikan, cultivates oysters. 

“Mariculture development in Alaska is something that is happening now and has tremendous opportunity for economic development,” he said. “Frankly, there is money to be made. There’s opportunity out there in a large marketplace.”

Markos Scheer (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)