Alaska Sea Grant offers webinar on seaweed farming
February 21, 2017
Alaska Sea Grant will offer a webinar on Alaska's potential to join the growing seaweed farming industry. Gary Freitag, Sea Grant's Marine Advisory Program agent in Ketchikan, will present the webinar from 5-6:30 p.m. Feb. 28.
Freitag will review seaweed farming, including culture, harvesting, marketing and permitting. He will also address ways Alaskans can get involved in this multibillion-dollar industry, which is growing by nearly 6 percent annually.
Seaweed is highly nutritious and can be used in biofuels and biotechnology. Seaweed cultivation could be a new economic opportunity for coastal Alaska.
Alaska Sea Grant received a $418,000 grant from National Sea Grant in fall 2016 to support research aimed at helping seaweed growers in Alaska be more successful. The grant is funding a two-year study by Michael Stekoll, a University of Alaska Southeast professor with a joint appointment at the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Alaska Sea Grant is also funding a demonstration project in growing seaweed with Oceans Alaska hatchery in Ketchikan and local shellfish farmers.
Alaska Sea Grant is a partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. For more information about Freitag’s webinar, visit www.alaskaseagrant.org.
CONTACT: Sue Keller, sue.keller@alaska.edu, 907-474-6703