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Energy use in the emerging kelp industry: Reflections from Kodiak

By Emma Kehoe, 2025 ACEP summer intern
August 26, 2025

Inspired in part by recent declines in salmon and crab fisheries, Alaskans are looking for a new marine-based industry. As a result, kelp farming is expanding in Alaska during the salmon off-season with the first harvest just over a decade ago.

As kelp farming grows each year, farmers, processors and researchers are innovating new ways for this industry to be sustainable, efficient and independent of fossil fuels.

The ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Green Energy in Mariculture team, led by Chandler Kemp, an assistant professor of sustainable energy at the UAF Bristol Bay campus and an affiliate researcher with ACEP, is working with kelp farmers across Alaska's coast to determine and create energy-efficient practices within such a transformative industry. As these specialists collaborate, a new sense of motivation and excitement is snowballing.

I got to feel this exact excitement as an ACEP intern this summer working with Chandler as part of the GEM team to design an electric hauling system for a kelp farming operation off the coast of Juneau.

To explore this energy-conscious industry further and learn from farmers themselves about the electric equipment they need, I visited Kodiak Island, another coastal community in Alaska with a growing kelp farming industry.

Unique to Kodiak, my objectives were to 1) meet with kelp farmers who are partnered with the UAF Bristol Bay campus and ACEP; 2) create new connections with local kelp farmers, researchers and processors; and 3) better quantify energy use within kelp farming and processing.

During my time in Kodiak, I documented equipment and collected energy-use data of the marine farming systems, research labs and processing plants.

I met with Lexa Meyer and Alf Pryor, who own and operate a local kelp hatchery and Alaska Ocean Farms. They explained their entire operation and showed me the landing craft they use to haul kelp. They also work closely with Nick Mangini of Kodiak Island Sustainable Seaweed, who also donated his time to fill me in. He explained his future plans to install an electric outboard motor and shared his interests in an electric hauling system.

Angela Korabik, an Alaska Sea Grant fellow and co-coordinator of the , gave me an insights into the biology behind innovative kelp farming methods. Working alongside the Kodiak kelp community, she performs growth research on bull kelp, creates funding opportunities for local farmers and connects Alaska kelp operations. Angela gave a tour of the UAF , or KSMSC, where she studies the effects of light, temperature and motion on the growth of large brown algae — scientifically known as Nereocystis luetkeana, and more commonly as bull kelp.

Also a part of UAF KSMSC is Chris Sannito, the seafood technologist for WildSource, a tribally owned seafood processing facility that has been adapting its equipment for kelp. This plant currently processes all of the commercial kelp in Kodiak. While showing me the kelp equipment, Chris described how he adapts every year to keep up with the changes in harvest and demand. For example, as the demand for food-grade kelp shrinks, WildSource is expanding markets by shifting from blanching and drying to acidifying kelp for shelf-stable biostimulants, which are used for pharmaceuticals and to promote plant growth in agriculture.

Each year, these farmers adapt to the quickly changing market by growing different kelp varieties and developing new harvesting methods.

Alf and Lexa continue to refine their harvesting methods each year. Alf described his interest to switch to a hybrid system for quieter, cleaner operations, especially since Kodiak’s grid is powered entirely by hydropower and wind. They are also already experimenting with fully electric oyster farming gear, potentially setting the stage for integrating more electric systems into their kelp operation.

Implementing use of electric deck equipment, specifically electric hauling systems, into kelp farming would allow kelp farmers to shut down their diesel engines and replace hydraulics with a battery-powered system. This would reduce noise exposure for the deck crew and decrease the chance of hydraulic fluid contamination.

Most importantly, electric deck equipment would also allow hauling systems to be powered by stored renewable energy — renewable energy that is already generated, stored and available through Kodiak’s hydro- and wind-powered grid.

From my time meeting and learning with Kodiak locals, I learned of and am now able to share information about their farming methods, the engineered equipment needed to harvest and process kelp and some of the biology behind these innovative kelp farming systems. By understanding the kelp life cycle in depth, from hatchery to consumer, the GEM team is able to explore future growth opportunities for this industry with an energy conscious mindset.

The Kodiak kelp community is adaptable and energized to build an energy-conscious industry focused on renewable energy sources and sustainability in Alaska. It has been inspiring to meet each dedicated individual who is enthusiastic about harvesting Alaska kelp.

Joining the GEM team and visiting Kodiak reminded me of all of the changes dedicated Alaskans create. Born and raised in Talkeetna, I have seen the impacts of strong communities who work together.

Here in Kodiak is an example of another developing community — kelp researchers, farmers and engineers are working in unison to build a sustainable kelp industry.