Aquaculture 2025

March 6 - 10, 2025

New Orleans, Louisiana USA

Add To Calendar 07/03/2025 12:15:0007/03/2025 12:35:00America/ChicagoAquaculture 2025EXAMINING ENVIRONMENTAL DRIVERS AND IMPACTS OF MARICULTURE ACROSS THE GULF OF ALASKABalcony KThe World Aquaculture Societyjohnc@was.orgfalseDD/MM/YYYYanrl65yqlzh3g1q0dme13067

EXAMINING ENVIRONMENTAL DRIVERS AND IMPACTS OF MARICULTURE ACROSS THE GULF OF ALASKA

James Crimp*, Sierra Greene, Ginny Eckert

 University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Sea Grant
17101 Point Lena Loop Road
Juneau, AK 99801
jcrimp@alaska.edu

 



The Mariculture Research and Restoration Consortium is a collaborative initiative focused on understanding environmental drivers and impacts of seaweed and shellfish farming in diverse ecosystems across the Gulf of Alaska. Key objectives are to understand variation in crop productivity to inform future site selection and to understand impacts, positive or negative, that farms have on the surrounding ecosystem. We are using production arrays at nine commercial kelp and oyster farms throughout Kodiak, Kachemak Bay and Prince William Sound. Each array includes a standardized cultivation system for oysters and kelp and environmental sensors that measure salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and chlorophyll at fixed depths and throughout the water column. This multi-year project includes active and funded participation of farmers working with an interdisciplinary team of scientists. This research will inform economically and environmentally sustainable growth of the mariculture industry in Alaska.