Search AMC News

  • Grant Components

  • Lead Entities

Alaska Mariculture Cluster Launches Carbon Sequestration Research Program

October 28, 2025

Lead Entities: Alaska Center for Energy and Power, Kelson Marine, Native Village of Eyak, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Grant Component: Research & Development

Southeast Conference has awarded four innovative research projects through the Alaska Mariculture Cluster’s (AMC) Carbon Sequestration Program, which will support new economic opportunities and increase Alaska’s competitive advantage in the marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) market.

Funded through AMC’s Research and Development grant component, the Carbon Sequestration Program supports applied research that explores how Alaska’s ecosystems can contribute to global carbon reduction efforts while improving marketability of Alaska’s mariculture products and strengthening the state’s mariculture industry.

By studying nontraditional mCDR pathways, generating baseline data, piloting new technologies, and assessing product and market applications, these projects will bring innovation to Alaska and position the state’s mariculture industry to become a future leader in carbon sequestration. Findings from these projects will be made publicly available through the Alaska Mariculture Cluster website to ensure that the benefits extend to all industry participants and Alaskan communities.

These projects were awarded via a competitive request for proposal (RFP) to University of Alaska Fairbanks, Native Village of Eyak, Alaska Center for Energy & Power, and Kelson Marine.

Use the toggles below to learn more about the funded Carbon Sequestration projects.

Click to expand:

Lead Organization: University of Alaska Fairbanks
Funding: $98,500
Region: Kenai Peninsula, Southwest Alaska (Kodiak), Prince William Sound

This study investigates how farmed kelp releases dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which is an important but under-measured component of ocean carbon storage, especially in the context of mariculture. Through controlled incubations and temperature trials, researchers will quantify DOC fluxes from Alaska-grown Alaria marginata (ribbon kelp) and determine how environmental conditions influence long-term carbon sequestration. This project will focus primarily on A. marginata in order to address intra-species variation of physiology that may result from local adaptation in farmed kelp populations. UAF’s work will determine whether there are site-specific differences in A. marginata DOC production, establish whether temperature affects DOC production changes, and explore how these variables interact. The project supports a graduate student at UAF and will provide some of the first empirical DOC data for Alaska’s mariculture industry, strengthening future carbon accounting models and “blue carbon” verification methods.

Lead Organization: Native Village of Eyak (NVE)
Funding: $113,313
Region: Prince William Sound

NVE’s project will explore how kelp-based soil amendments can enhance carbon storage and soil health in Alaska’s agricultural systems. Building on promising pilot studies, the team will test combinations of sugar kelp and recycled cardboard to balance carbon-to-nitrogen ratios and measure resulting changes in soil microbial activity, CO₂ flux, and nutrient retention. This project will use laboratory and field experiments to determine whether combining carbon amendments with Alaskan sugar kelp can effectively increase carbon sequestration in soils, which in turn directly supports local kelp farmers by creating an early market for climate-positive agricultural products derived from Alaska seaweed. This project will be led by Caitlin McKinstry from NVE and Dr. Erin Oliver from Washington State University. NVE will work with Prince William Sound College and the Matanuska Experiment Farm to carry out this project, and work with ACEP, another awardee under AMC’s Carbon Sequestration program, to share information and coordinate research efforts, exemplifying collaboration within Alaska’s mariculture industry.

Lead Organization: Alaska Center for Energy and Power
Funding: $175,629
Region: All Regions

This collaborative project, led by Dr. Gwen Holdmann and Dr. Meriam Karlsson, will combine Alaska-grown kelp and naturally occurring glacial flour to develop a soil amendment that both enhances soil productivity and sequesters atmospheric CO₂. The project has three main components: soil fertility and plant response trials; controlled CO2 sequestration experiments; and market readiness, lifecycle assessment, and mCDR hub strategy. ACEP and Alaska Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (AFES) will perform greenhouse trials and laboratory testing to evaluate soil nutrient responses, enhanced weathering potential, and carbon uptake. Partnering with community leader Clay Koplin and UAF’s Center ICE, the project will also assess commercialization pathways and contribute to a strategic roadmap for a future mCDR hub in Alaska.

Lead Organization: Kelson Marine
Funding: $115,802
Region: All Regions

Kelson Marine will develop and apply a model to simulate how kelp fragments naturally sloughed off mariculture lines move and settle and how that pathway differs across Alaska’s coastal waters. Using ocean circulation data funded through a separate large AMC-funded project, De-Risking Mariculture Investments: Ocean and Wave Simulations & Analysis, the study will estimate how much sloughed kelp biomass reaches deeper waters where long-term carbon storage may occur. Results will be organized into a public, web-based GIS layer visualizing kelp transport and deposition patterns across Alaska’s mariculture regions, offering a valuable tool to understand Alaska’s mCDR potential and opportunities for economic growth. The project will be led by Tobias Dewhurst from Kelson Marine Co, and collaborators include the University of Maine’s Aquaculture Research Institute, Stanford University, Cascadia Seaweed, and SeaQuester Farms.

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.