Overview
The Alaska Mariculture Cluster (AMC) grant program is heavily invested in strategic equipment purchases to develop and enhance the industry’s hatchery, nursery, and processing sectors.
The AMC’s original grant application allocated approximately $3.5 million in equipment funding to five subaward recipients: DEC, ADFG, UAA-PWSC, UAF, and UAS. Subsequently, across multiple rounds of competitive requests for proposals (RFPs), an additional 13 nonprofit and Tribal organizations were awarded around $8 million for equipment purchases and $400,000 for supplies, bringing the total to $11.9 million.
- Safely and cost-effectively handle and process seaweed and shellfish into products with strong market demand.
- Reduce operating costs, increase production capacity, and improve seed quality.
- Add capacity where needed to address any regional seed supply gaps, such as through the purchase of new oyster floating upweller systems (FLUPSYs), seaweed nurseries, or other similar equipment.
- Coordinate efforts and address regional and subregional solutions collaboratively.
To learn more about each of the awards, please expand the list of awards or Mariculture Equipment Airtable Database below.
Mariculture Equipment News:
Mariculture Equipment Subaward Recipients
Chugach Regional Resources Commission (CRRC)
Region: Kenai
Location: Seward
Award: $783,200
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, a gametophyte module, a direct seeding machine, seaweed bioreactors, 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 gametophyte-based seeding, which is a promising avenue to develop lower cost and higher quality kelp seed for Alaska farmers.
Kachemak Shellfish Mariculture Association (KSMA)
Region: Kenai
Location: Kachemak Bay
Award: $450,000
KSMA received funding to purchase a Floating Upwelling System (FLUPSY). This FLUPSY will increase the viability of seed stock by providing a grow out location in a protected and controlled environment that (1) minimizes predation and fouling of grow-out equipment, (2) facilitates acclimation of seed stock to open water farming locations throughout Southcentral Alaska, (3) allows for Southcentral Alaska grow-out requirements from farmers to be individualized and prioritized (size of seed, time of delivery, large batch seed orders, etc.), (4) allows for controlled testing and commercial viability of other approved shellfish species to take place, and (5) allows for increased productivity of the grow-out phase through centralization, economies of scale, ease of access to work location and proximity to workforce.
Larsen Bay Tribal Council
Region: Kodiak
Location: Larsen Bay
Award: $300,000
AMC equipment program funding was used to purchase a FLUPSY for the Larsen Bay Tribal Council. This FLUPSY will help with the oyster growing process and is estimated to improve survival rates among farmed oysters. FLUPSYs can also help provide warm and protected environments to encourage oyster growth, as well as ensure oysters have access to algae-rich water. This equipment should help produce strong, fast-growing seed that improves farm productivity and reliability.
Native Conservancy
Region: Prince William Sound and Southeast
Location: Simpson Bay, Port Etches, and Metlakatla
Award: $457,000
To increase in-state processing capacity, Native Conservancy received funding for an At Sea Floater Processor in Cordova and a containerized kelp nursery in Metlakatla. To build the floater-processor, Native Conservancy will house small-scale, modular, and mobile seaweed processing equipment within conjoined Conex shipping containers outfitted with power and climate control. AMC funding covered a blast freezer, an electric forklift, a shredder, and packaging supplies, essential components of the At Sea Floater Processor. This equipment will allow seaweed processing to occur locally, lower costs, and simplify supply chains. Combined with the containerized kelp nursery and microscopes for quality control across Native Conservancy’s nursery network, this equipment supports Native Conservancy’s broader vision for a distributed, Native-led mariculture infrastructure model across Alaska.
Chenega Regional Development Group
Region: Prince William Sound
Location: Chenega
Award: $80,000
AMC funding covered the purchase of a FLUPSY for Chenega. The purchase of this FLUPSY was a crucial milestone for Chenega to achieve their vision for oyster farming, as nurseries are the starting points for developing replicable means and methods for growing oysters. The FLUPSY is an essential asset that supports significant economic benefits, particularly within Western Prince William Sound, the Native Village of Chenega, and its members. Moreover, the FLUPSY’s positive impact extends to the broader population around the Prince William Sound area in Alaska, presenting substantial economic opportunities and contributing to the region’s sustainable growth.
Prince William Sound Economic Development District (PWSEDD)
Region: Prince William Sound
Location: Cordova
Award: $839,750
Prince William Sound Economic Development District (PWSEDD)’s Mariculture Equipment award is increasing seaweed processing capacity and safety in Prince William Sound. The funding was used to support the purchase of a rotary drum, a smoker, a shredder, a rinser/blancher, and associated conveyors for moving material into and out of processing machines. These primary pieces of equipment will be used to establish a pilot processing line and allow PWSEDD to fine tune stabilization and processing methods to develop products that cater to a range of market preferences. Some of the equipment further enables the processing line to convert liquid by-products into valuable ingredients through spray drying, among other efforts needed to produce a wide range of value-added kelp products and support local kelp farmers with access to markets.
Prince William Sound Science Center (PWSSC)
Region: Prince William Sound
Location: Cordova
Award: $67,500
Prince William Sound Science Center (PWSSC) received funding to assist with nursery expansion for the PWSSC Mariculture Hatchery. AMC’s award primarily covered an insulated environmental chamber and a forklift, in addition to electrical, filtration, piping, and nursery supplies. This equipment is crucial for overcoming problems encountered by the PWSSC during previous growing seasons and will allow for more effective and efficient mariculture operations in Prince William Sound.
OceansAlaska: Processing
Region: Southeast
Location: Little Naukati Bay
Award: $378,100
Led by a partnership between OceansAlaska and the Alaska Oyster Cooperative, this funding was used to help develop vessel offloading and shellfish processing/shipping capability in Naukati Bay on Prince of Wales. With new equipment including shipping containers, insulation, a forklift, an oyster grader, an ice machine, and a refrigeration unit, these purchases will increase the efficiency (and decrease energy costs) of its member oyster farmer’s operations by offering mechanized vessel offloading, product sorting, product packing, and product cooling. This equipment will help bring processing activities to an on-land base with electrical connection, decreasing fuel usage and providing for expansion opportunities. Additionally, the location of shellfish processing on the Prince of Wales road system will allow for wider employment opportunities on the island. The project will also reduce processing costs, improve quality assurance, and help small farms efficiently meet growing demand while also creating local jobs and expanding value-added production.
Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (CCTHITA)
Region: Southeast
Location: Klawock
Award: $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 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.
Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District (KPEDD)
Region: Kenai
Location: Homer
Award: $236,292
To meet growing processing needs, KPEDD will purchase a screw press, auger conveyor, forklift, dehydrator, and walk-in cooler for the Kachemak Kelp Hub, which operates out of the Salmon Sisters Holdings Co. facility on the Homer spit. The equipment will increase throughput, improve quality, and increase the scale and efficiency of processing bulk kelp into a variety of primary and value-added products, including a kelp biostimulant.
Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak
Region: Kodiak
Location: Kodiak
Award: $2,345,000
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.
Mariculture Innovation Center
Region: Southeast
Location: Juneau
Award: $800,000
The newly formed Mariculture Innovation Center will build a containerized kelp processing facility — with blancher, dryer, shredder, and other functionality — alongside a commercial-scale modular kelp hatchery to meet regional seed demand. This Juneau-based project is supported by a variety of entities including Sea Quester Farms, Goldbelt Incorporated, Koru & Kelp, Barnacle Foods, Blue Dot Kitchen, Marine Biologics, and Ostrea Marine.
Grow Ketchikan
Region: Southeast
Location: Ketchikan
Award: $951,226
Grow Ketchikan will establish a mariculture innovation hub in Ketchikan to serve as a central facility for Southern Southeast Alaska’s emerging industry. Equipment purchases will include kelp seed production and oyster hatchery equipment (tanks, microalgae cultures, filters, and sterilizers), plus gametophyte seedbank tools such as incubators and cell imagers.
