Alaska’s Oyster Farming Industry is Gaining Ground (Photo: Robert Kerton/ CSIRO)
Plans to install oyster farms in southeastern Alaska
UNITED STATES
Friday, February 15, 2019, 01:10 (GMT + 9)
Large oyster farms could be set up soon in Southeast Alaska, in line with the state’s Mariculture Task Force plan that sees the potential for a USD 100 million industry in the country.
Silver Bay Seafoods, one of the largest seafoods companies in Alaska, pretends to get a 10-year lease on 74 hectares of seafloor near Sitka from the state Department of Natural Resources, reported Coast Alaska.
Furthermore, a 51 hectares farm in Doyle Bay, off Prince of Wales Island, recently completed its regulatory review. It’s nearly as big as Silver Bay’s proposed farm and both dwarf any oyster farm proposal to date.
The project of enlarging Alaska´s farms, through the Mariculture Task Force established by Gov. Bill Walker three years ago, includes shellfish and seaweed, a project that could grow to a USD 100 million industry in 20 years.
Alaska’s existing oyster farms face challenges, as shellfish grow slower in colder waters. While some small operations have struggled to establish themselves in Alaska, Julie Decker, co-chair of the task force, believes that larger farms could be successful.
Longlines and cages on an oyster farm in Southcentral Alaska.(Photo: State of Alaska · Department of Fish and Game)
“There’s farms this size and larger in British Columbia, the state of Washington, Oregon and California — so up and down the West Coast — but Alaska is still untapped that way,” she explained.
Silver Bay Seafood’s oyster farm proposal is out for public comment through March 1.
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