A new statewide mapping project to locate wild kelp beds, including in the Cordova area, is part of a much larger spatial analysis being conducted by NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.
The final report, An Aquaculture Opportunity Area (AOA) Atlas for the Gulf of Alaska, is anticipated to be published in the coming months.
Surveys in Southcentral Alaska – including in Cordova, Valdez and Seward – counted a total of 14 beds mapped, compared to 19 beds in Southwest Alaska and 107 beds in Southeast Alaska.
Key kelp farms in the Cordova area include Nobel Ocean Farms and Royal Ocean Kelp Company.
Nobel Ocean Farms, founded by Skye Steritz and Sean Den Adel, cultivates sugar kelp with a focus on healthy marine habitats and food security. Royal Ocean Kelp Company highlights the transition of maritime expertise to the kelp industry. It is operated by local fisherman Cael Herschleb, his wife Catherine, and Thea Thomas.
As part of the larger AOA process, NOAA also announced on Sept. 19 the identification of 13 AOAs, totaling more than 21,000 acres, in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico and off the shores of Southern California.
Eleven participants – including active seaweed farmers, hatchery workers/operators, and others with expert local knowledge – contributed to the participatory mapping process across the AOA study regions. These include Southeast (Juneau, Sitka, Wrangell, Petersburg, Craig, and Ketchikan), Southcentral (Seward, Valdez, and Cordova), and Southwest (Kodiak). In total, 140 beds were mapped – covering an area of 23 square miles.
Researchers found that in general, bull kelp, sugar kelp and ribbon kelp appear to be broadly distributed across all the AOA study regions. These are the primary species cultivated by farmers who participated in the mapping effort and are also the three main species currently grown in Alaska. Other species mapped had a more sporadic distribution, including giant kelp, dragon kelp, three-ribbed kelp, sieve kelp, and dulse.
NOAA officials said that it should be noted that these data do not represent all wild seaweed or kelp beds in Alaska and that the mapping effort included a relatively small number of participants.
Kelp farming is still an emerging industry in Alaska and AOA planning helps provide a strong foundation for developing aquaculture – with the mapping of wild kelp beds a critical step in this process. According to NOAA, the mapping will ensure farmers, managers and communities have the information they need to make informed decisions about the best places to establish farms.
One of the most important guidelines for Alaska’s seaweed industry is what farmers call the “50-50 rule.” It involves farmers collecting spores from at least 50 wild kelp plants to start their seed stock. These spores must be collected from donor beds located within 50 kilometers of the farm site. This practice ensures that farms don’t rely too heavily on a single source, and helps local wild populations continue to thrive. Because of this rule, the location of wild kelp beds plays a big role in where farms are placed.
The project uses complementary datasets to help fill in data gaps, but due to the inherent limitations of participatory mapping, results are generalized, and further site-specific analyses and data should be considered, NOAA spokespersons said.
