Aquaculture in Alaska represents 40% of the state's income generated by agriculture. That is 6.4 times the amount of money made by dairy products.
The aquaculture industry has made gigantic efforts toward restocking the salmon that are such an important part of the Alaska economy and culture. Many of the state's commercial and sport fisheries are healthy thanks to the state's aquaculture program. With the continuing development of the shellfish industry, state revenues will continue to be enhanced by the marine environment
However, according to Dr. Ray RaLonde of the Alaska Sea Grant program, the aquaculture industry remains vitally short-funded, especially with respect to research. In recent years, it has been difficult to assess the interaction between the hatcheries and their environments. The PWSOS will help the aquaculture industry bridge some of those gaps, creating an extensive database of physical data that will correspond to all of the hatcheries in PWS.
The industry should be able to use the environmental data collected by the program to increase the productivity of aquaculture farms growing newly introduced shellfish species, such as razor clams, cockles, and littleneck clams. The industry can also develop techniques for keeping clams out of warm water, which encourages spawning and leads to poor tasting meat.
Warm waters can also lead to outbreaks of Vibrio parah aemolyticus, a bacterium that causes severe illness in people who eat shellfish contaminated by it. The bacterium appeared in Alaskan shellfish farms in low numbers during the summer of 2004, alerting many farmers to the dangers of its presence. With continued research, the industry will be able to predict warmer ocean temperatures and take preventative measures to avoid the negative effects.
The industry also hopes to improve its understanding of ecosystem interactions, which can be used to increase production efficiency and survival rates. The implementation of the PWSOS will help fill some of the holes in the environmental information needed by the aquaculture industry. With an increased knowledge of the physical environment, aquaculture specialists can create a more efficient industry that adds millions of dollars to the state's revenues, and millions of fish to the state's waters.
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