Ů�źϼ�S Sitka expands hands-on mariculture opportunities with floating lab

October 2, 2026

The University of Alaska Southeast Sitka campus has acquired a floating mariculture laboratory, offering real-world mariculture experience to students and a local seed source for shellfish and seaweed growers.

A researcher operates a microscope beside a series of water tanks while explaining equipment to three visitors in an aquaculture laboratory. The facility includes illuminated wall panels, research tanks, and scientific instruments used for marine cultivation and monitoring. — Workshop participant Logan Reveil examines oyster gametes under a microscope on the floating mariculture lab during the 2026 Oyster Hatchery Workshop in Ketchikan, Alaska. The workshop was hosted by OceansAlaska, Ů�źϼ�S and Alaska Sea Grant. (Sara Ebersole/Ů�źϼ�S Applied Fisheries)

The floating facility arrived in Sitka on Sept. 18 after a three-day tow from Ketchikan, where it was purchased from the non-profit OceansAlaska. The lab has the capacity to cultivate seeded line for kelp farmers and up to 3 million oyster seed annually, as well as seed for other local shellfish species.

In addition to seed cultivation, applied fisheries students will utilize the laboratory to conduct aquaculture and fisheries science research, build practical in-water maritime and diving skills, and educate the public about Alaska’s growing aquatic farming industry.

“This is a pretty extraordinary moment,” said Jeremy Rupp, Ů�źϼ�S Sitka campus director. “The floating lab takes something that’s been imagined and diligently worked on for a long time and suddenly makes it real. You work on something for years, and then one morning you look out of your office window, and there it is, in the Sitka Channel, with enormous opportunities for students and mariculture workforce development.”

The lab transitioned from vision to reality with support from the Alaska Mariculture Cluster initiative - a federal grant administered by Southeast Conference. Key supporters of the facility also include the State of Alaska, the University of Alaska system, the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Sea Grant, among many others.

“These are exciting times for Alaska mariculture industry growth,” said Dan Lesh, deputy director of Southeast Conference. “The relocation of this facility to the Ů�źϼ�S Sitka campus is exactly the kind of transformative capacity-building investment the Alaska Mariculture Cluster grant was designed to support. We are confident that the innovative education, research and hatchery operations at Ů�źϼ�S will prepare students to lead in the industry.”

The laboratory carries out the university’s mission to serve Alaska’s coastal economies and its ongoing commitment to strengthening ties with Alaska's fisheries and aquaculture sectors, providing students with direct pathways into the industry.

“This project has taken so much effort by many individuals and we're really just at the beginning,” said Angie Bowers, assistant professor of applied fisheries at Ů�źϼ�S. “We have an opportunity to make this facility a really special place that helps grow an industry and enables us to learn more about local species, all while helping to develop a workforce.”

The floating mariculture lab is currently moored near the Ů�źϼ�S Sitka campus and will be relocated to an on-campus dock in October. It will be incorporated into coursework beginning in early 2027.

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