A proposed ocean and fish restoration project in the Gulf of Alaska is trying to generate support at the local and state level. Ocean Pasture Restoration in Alaska wants to begin its three-year pilot starting in 2025. The project hinges on renewing pastures in the ocean to boost production of phytoplankton.
Rob Lindsey, a longtime commercial fisherman in Kodiak, advocated for the project at a recent Kodiak Island Borough Assembly work session on Halloween.
He said the hope is to do this ocean restoration by operating out from the island.
“Among other things, we anticipate Kodiak being the home base of all operations in the Gulf of Alaska, probably all the way down to the Canadian border, and perhaps out in the Bering Sea as well," Lindsey explained.
Both Lindsey and Ted Crookston, who also serves as a board member on the Ocean Pasture Restoration's Fisheries Advisory Board, said they fear commercial fishing will no longer be a sustainable career in the future, especially fishing for king salmon.
Crookston, who called into the same borough meeting on Oct. 31 via Zoom, said the world’s oceans are collapsing.
“Our message is this: that this seafood crisis is really a crisis of abundance," Crookston said. "And it was brought out that the whole problem is one of not resource but abundance. If abundance was restored, then all the problems would go away. And that was very, very true. We totally agree with that.”
Crookston cited research from an oceanographer during the 1970s to 1990s, John Martin at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in California, that said this ongoing collapse is happening due to the reduction of phytoplankton, which are the main food supply for almost everything in the ocean. And a potential way to help boost production of phytoplankton is by putting mineral dust in the ocean that contains micro nutrients with iron.
“I don’t want to make it over simplified, but it’s the addition at the right time, of the right amount, and the right places, of iron into the ocean water that the phytoplankton; it turns on the photosynthetic switch and they naturally reproduce," Crookston explained. "And that starts the whole process.”
Ocean Pasture Restoration has already tried a few times to increase phytoplankton production in Alaska waters using the method Crookston described, most recently in 2012. Anecdotal evidence from the organization shows it helped increase the number of returning salmon that were commercially harvested in the following years.
Crookston said now the Gulf of Alaska pilot project for next year needs the backing of state lawmakers.
“We know that there’s not enough data here, and enough science, and enough experience to have anybody positively believe this," he said. "So we are saying we want to go out and do this work, self-funded, and let the data do the talking. And we’re just trying to get appropriate levels of transparency and engagement from the state officials so that they understand what is going on.”
The organization hopes to have a consensus of support and potentially legislation from legislators and the governor for its ocean restoration project during the upcoming legislative session.
Ocean Pasture Restoration already gave a presentation to the Alaska Legislature’s Seafood Task Force in September during its Sept. 18 & 19 meeting.
*Editor's Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the organization as Ocean Plastics Recovery, which is completely separate and not a part of Ocean Pasture Restoration. The article has been updated and KMXT regrets the error.
