The “Kelp Values” project originated from a co-production of knowledge approach initiated by the Native Conservancy and Chugach Regional Resources Commission. Together with all three campuses in the University of Alaska System, we secured funding from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council in 2022 to help understand the cultural, social, and economic values of kelps and seaweeds in the South Coast region of Alaska, from Cordova through Kodiak. This team has partnered with Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, to learn from Villages in the region how new kelp mariculture operations might best complement cultural values and sustainable economies in Indigenous communities.
Our team uses methods such as Healthy Land and Sea Planning, semi-structured interviews, national surveys of market interest for kelp products, and mapping at various scales from satellite imagery to subsistence harvest.We aim to understand how historical ecological research, species distribution, and traditional Indigenous harvest practices, and other subsistence activities could guide site selection and equitable development of kelp mariculture.
We will provide an update three years into our five year project on major programmatic progress and milestones. Our project is guided by a series of three, interconnected hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Evaluation of historical ecology, distribution and practices of traditional Indigenous mariculture and subsistence harvest activities is necessary for effective site selection of potential future mariculture sites.
Hypothesis 2: New kelp mariculture activity that is led by Indigenous communities in the spill zone will have additional benefits relative to subsistence harvest and commercial fishing activities at the local scale.
Hypothesis 3: Kelp mariculture led by Indigenous communities presents a viable economic activity that can help attenuate continued impacts on commercial fishing in the spill zone.