The state of Alaska’s oyster farming industry has continued to increase since its revitalization in 1970. Over the last 50 years, the mariculture industry as a whole has grown to 86 farms covering 1,725.13 acres of ocean leases. In 2024, 42 farms with shellfish or combination (shellfish and seaweed) permits reported activity. With new technologies being introduced in the region and new farms emerging, the need for an updated central piece of literature to support the industry became clear. The Alaska Oyster Growers Manual was originally published in the 1980’s and was most recently updated in 2012, but much of the content is now outdated for Alaska. This prompted the Alaska Shellfish Growers Association (ASGA) in 2020 to request an update from Alaska Sea Grant that was centralized around farmer input.
The 5th edition of the Alaska Oyster Growers Manual will provide a high-level overview of various aspects of oyster farming, with chapters focused on topics from site selection to post-harvest processing. Chapters will identify current best practices demonstrated by farms around the state of Alaska, as well as identify upcoming trends and challenges such as biosecurity and marketing. Additionally, the Manual will highlight new technologies and gear that have been adopted since the last edition was published.
During this presentation I will expand on building relationships with Alaskan farmers and how their expertise guided my writing process. Additionally, I will discuss ways in which the updated manual will address concerns faced by Alaskan oyster farmers.
This manual aims to highlight the leading methods of Alaskan oyster farming by utilizing experiential and traditional knowledge from farmers around the state. The goal of this manual is to illustrate the oyster farming process from seed purchase to market sales, with local farmer input from the first to final pages.