The Alaska Mariculture Alliance (AMA) opened the second round of match funding for the Mariculture Incentive Grant Program (MIGP). The purpose of the MIGP is to provide dollar for dollar matching grant funding to mariculture farmers, processors, nurseries, and hatchery operations who are engaged in developing or expanding mariculture in Alaska. The program is funded by the State of Alaska.

MIGP applicants must have a permitted mariculture farm, hatchery, nursery, processing facility, or other mariculture-related business located in Alaska. Nonprofits are not eligible to apply, except for nonprofit shellfish and/or aquatic plant hatcheries. Applicants will be required to meet a 1-to-1, dollar-for-dollar, match requirement that can be satisfied through cash or loans, including collateralized loans from the AMC’s Revolving Loan Fund (RLF), launching in Fall 2024.

Both programs – the RLF and MIGP – are designed to stimulate private sector investment and support growing mariculture businesses without competing with existing finance options. For more information about the Revolving Loan Fund, please email jamey@seconference.org or visit the RLF webpage. For information about the MIGP timeline, eligibility, and match requirements, please visit AMA’s website.

Fully completed applications, with all required accompanying documentation, must be submitted by December 15, 2024. Incomplete or untimely applications will not be considered.

MIGP History

In 2022, Governor Dunleavy worked with Alaska Legislature to secure $5 million for a new mariculture matching grant program to help develop the industry. The grant was made to the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED) for the Alaska Mariculture Alliance, which created the MIGP to administer and distribute funding to mariculture businesses throughout Alaska. In October 2023, the AMA began the first round of MIGP funding, and grant awards were announced in January 2024.

About the AMC Marketing Program

Funded through the AMC’s Market Development grant component, the Alaska Mariculture Alliance (AMA) and Southeast Conference (SEC) have launched a robust marketing program to increase awareness, demand, and long-term market opportunities for Alaska’s growing mariculture industry. The AMC Marketing Program is being advanced by Tastemaker Comms in partnership with Rising Tide Communications – two experienced firms with extensive backgrounds in seafood marketing, brand development, and campaign execution.

About the Alaska Mariculture Cluster

In September 2022, Southeast Conference was awarded a $49 million U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant to stimulate private investment and grow Alaska’s mariculture industry to $100 million in sales in 10 years.  The Alaska Mariculture Cluster grant involves a large coalition of state agencies, Tribes, non-profits, and others working together over a five year period ending May 2027.