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Six Projects Receive Nearly $3 Million in Second Round of Mariculture Equipment Funding

July 18, 2025

Lead Entities: Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Chugach Regional Resources Commission, Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District, Native Conservancy, OceansAlaska, Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak

Grant Component: Equipment & Technology

The Alaska Mariculture Cluster (AMC) is excited to announce the second round of awards through its Mariculture Equipment Program, which is investing in strategic equipment upgrades to support hatchery, nursery, and processing capacity across Alaska’s growing mariculture industry.

The AMC Equipment Program is allocating $7.2+ million for equipment and $378,000 for supplies over three competitive funding rounds. The first round projects were announced in July 2024. This second round will provide approximately $2.96 million in funding across six projects, supporting Alaska Native organizations, economic development districts, and nonprofit innovators statewide.

The goal of the AMC Equipment Program is to help mariculture producers:

  • Safely and cost-effectively handle and process seaweed and shellfish into products with strong market demand.
  • Reduce operating costs, improve seed quality, and increase production capacity.
  • Address regional gaps in nursery, hatchery, and processing infrastructure.

Each funded project reflects local and regional priorities, collaborative partnerships, and a shared commitment to expanding Alaska’s mariculture economy.

Meet Round Two Awardees

Click to expand

Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Klawock) – ~$49,684

A new 20-foot refrigerated connex will be installed at Klawock Airport to strengthen the Prince of Wales Island oyster supply chain. This new refrigerator unit fills a critical gap in safely and efficiently staging and shipping live shellfish, especially in the face of weather delays and other last minute shipping challenges. The project is a partnership between Alaska Seaplanes and Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (CCTHITA) and is strongly supported by various stakeholders and oyster farmers. It will help lower costs as well as improve the quality of oysters delivered to distant markets – and comes at a time with many local oyster farmers are investing in capacity increases and other supply chain investments.

Chugach Regional Resources Commission (Seward) – ~$70,000

CRRC, a tribal consortium based on the Kenai Peninsula, received funding to upgrade seed production infrastructure at its Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute. AMC funds will support a kelp nursery filtration system and a new heat pump to more efficiently meet space and water heating needs.  These investments are foundational to improving seed consistency and regional nursery capacity in support of mariculture across Southcentral Alaska and beyond.

Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District (Homer) – $49,380

To meet growing processing needs, KPEDD will purchase a screw press and auger conveyor for the Kachemak Kelp Hub which operates out of the Salmon Sisters facility on the Homer spit. The equipment will increase throughput, improve quality, and enable the production of value-added products such as biostimulants to benefit regional seaweed farms.

Native Conservancy (Metlakatla) – $300,000

Native Conservancy received funding to deploy a containerized kelp nursery in Metlakatla and microscopes for quality control across its nursery network. This builds on the success of the Cordova-based Community Kelp Seed Nursery and supports Native Conservancy’s broader vision for a distributed, Native-led mariculture infrastructure model across Alaska.

OceansAlaska (Prince of Wales Island) – $186,800

OceansAlaska’s equipment award will support further development of Alaska Oyster Cooperative’s centralized oyster processing hub in Naukati on Prince of Wales Island. AMC funding will provide essential equipment such as an oyster grader, ice machine, and conveyors. The project will reduce processing costs, improve quality assurance, and help small farms efficiently meet growing demand while also creating local jobs and expanding value-added production.

Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak – Kelp Primary Processing Platform (Kodiak) – $2,300,000

The Sun’aq Tribe is launching the KP³ (Kelp Primary Processing Platform), a modular system capable of producing stabilized kelp products for agriculture, food, and beauty markets. The platform, which was developed with support from Kodiak Ocean Growers, Koniag, and a variety of kelp buyers (including Macro Oceans among others), will be housed at the Tribe’s Wildsource facility and serve as a shared regional asset to advance economic opportunity, sustainability, and equity in Kodiak’s mariculture industry.

Presentation Slides

Looking Ahead

With two rounds now complete, the AMC Equipment Program has awarded funding to 15 projects totaling over $5.2 million. SEC is accepting proposals for the third and final round of funding through a competitive RFP process that closed October 13, 2025.

These investments reflect a broad commitment to growing Alaska’s mariculture sector through innovation, inclusion, and infrastructure—ensuring that communities across the state have the tools they need to succeed in this emerging blue economy.

Background

Southeast Conference (SEC) is the federally designated Economic Development District (EDD) for Southeast Alaska, as well as the state designated Alaska Regional Development Organization. SEC’s mission is to undertake and support activities that promote strong economies, sustainable communities, and a healthy environment in Southeast Alaska.

In September 2022, Southeast Conference was awarded a $49 million U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC) grant to catalyze a viable and sustainable mariculture industry in Alaska, supporting the production of shellfish and seaweed, for the long-term benefit of the state’s economy, environment, and communities.

SEC leads the Alaska Mariculture Cluster (AMC) grant coalition, which includes members of Alaska’s mariculture industry, tribal organizations, regulatory agencies, university system, regional EDDs, trade organizations, and others. A Governance Body, composed of AMC coalition leaders and Tribal executives from each of the project regions, guides the grant’s work and equity metrics.

The AMC has complementary grant components designed to break down barriers and develop Alaska’s mariculture industry.  The Overarching Narrative explains how the grant components work together to grow the industry in an equitable and responsible manner. The full project period for the AMC BBBRC project is October 1, 2022 to September 30th, 2026.