Farm Dreams (2023) s01e05 Episode Script
Alaska Fresh
1
If you've ever
dreamed of owning a farm,
come with me.
Things are living and
things are growing on a rooftop.
I'm Indy Officinalis.
I'm a farmer who loves
helping other farmers.
My passion for farming
started in my teens,
working on a
homestead in North Carolina,
and led me to
urban farming in LA.
I've worked on farms
from coast to coast,
but farming is hard work.
We planted about
ten varieties of fruit trees
and they all died.
So, I'm traveling the
country to offer some hope.
Hi.
Indy!
Oh,
my gosh, Indy!
Join me as I
transform farms on rooftops,
in backyards, warehouses.
This is insane!
And even out on the ocean.
Farm rescue on a boat.
And on the way, we'll
get tips from some of my expert farmer friends.
This is so
awesome! I'm so excited!
Today, I'm in
one of the beautiful places in the world, Alaska.
What's up?
Come on over!
I don't think
I've ever met a farmer
on the water like this.
All right, let's go.
Let's do it.
Hello Alaska.
This is stunning.
I'm out on a boat
with farmer Mark Seheer,
whose passion is
to utilize Alaska's beautiful natural resources
to produce a
sustainable commercial crop,
and offer more job
opportunities to the local fishing community.
I will do everything
I can to help him with
this environmentally
friendly venture,
so that his unconventional
farm doesn't go adrift.
All right. Welcome
to the Doyle Bay Kelp farm.
Yay.
This is where
Seagrove grows all of it's seaweed.
You wanna go take a tour?
I'd love to.
Let's go take a look.
While I'm more
accustomed to farming on land,
Mark and his
company's chief scientist,
Doctor Tiff Stephens,
are aqua farmers.
They grow kelp off the shores
of Prince of Wales Island
in South East Alaska.
Mark founded the
Seagrove Kelp Company to
support his farm and
to sell this versatile
and environmentally
friendly food product.
As you approach, you
start seeing all of these
little floating orange buoys.
Those are actually what
the kelp is growing on.
So, it was incredible to
be actually on a farm where
you're floating
above the crop.
So, how long have you
guys been here in the middle of the ocean farming?
So, so, we, uh, we
put kelp in the water in 2019.
And so, we're just about
to go into our third harvest.
But we're hoping to produce
probably 100 to 200 tons of, uh,
of seaweed this year.
Is there a
market for that?
Asia's been doing
it for hundreds of years.
In North America we've been
producing farmed seaweeds for
about 30 years.
And one of the reasons
that we wanted to do this was,
the economic model in
Alaska's been primarily extraction based.
You come to Alaska, which is
so amazingly lush with resources,
you know, and you take it out,
and you take it somewhere,
and this is such a
different model because we can grow food locally,
there's no fertilizer,
there's no pesticides, and,
and the water in
Alaska is so pristine.
I moved to Alaska in 1982.
This was where I started.
And I think the opportunity
to bring something home
that can, hopefully, make
these communities better and stronger,
I feel pretty fortunate to
have the opportunity to do that.
As I'm talking to Mark,
I'm realizing it's not just
about growing
kelp and selling it,
he really comes from this
environmentalist background.
He wants to make the
planet a better place.
So, how do you actually
access the kelp that's under the buoys?
Let's go
pull a kelp line.
All right.
There is one right there.
All right.
Grab this buoy, right here.
Oh, wow,
that's awesome!
That's so cool! No way!
So, that's sugar kelp.
This is beautiful!
It is pretty stunning.
Seaweeds have have
sustained human civilization
since time immemorial.
I like to say that
all kelps are seaweeds,
but not all seaweeds are kelps.
Kelp are large algaes
that live in cold seawater.
Though it might
look like a plant,
and is photosynthetic,
kelp are actually protists,
a kingdom created for
organisms that cannot be categorized
as plants, animals or fungi.
You wanna try a bite?
Just go, yeah.
So, that is delicious.
It's, like, crisp, delicate.
It's like the
potato chips of the sea.
That's a
great way to put it.
And the kelp starts
here? This is where it begins?
We start in the
nursery in Ketchikan.
Commercial kelp
are generally grown first in
a nursery, before
being placed in the ocean.
Light, water, temperature
all must be controlled,
much the way plants
are grown in a greenhouse.
You seed it in the fall,
and it will, we'll put
it out with the buoys.
And if we do our job right,
we don't really have to touch it
until the spring until harvest.
Wow.
And the cool
thing about growing kelp is,
we don't have to add
nutrients and so we're not adding things to the system.
Mm-hmm.
And with Tiff's
expertise in marine science,
she knows exactly
what to look for while monitoring the kelp farm.
So, we're
growing local species.
We wanna do this in an
environmentally friendly way,
we wanna be sustainable,
and it is farming.
All to the same things,
like nutrients and light,
they all matter, just
like if you were doing land based agriculture.
Right, exactly.
If you were growing corn,
it's the same.
Right.
Yeah.
All right, we're clear.
But farming kelp does
come with it's own unique challenges.
Argh!
Like keeping your
balance on a moving boat.
Bending your
knees is really important.
I'm one of
those people who, like,
falls over on land,
just, like, standing there.
Oh.
So. And
what do I do with my?
What are you
doing with your hands?
Oh, you're putting
them on your
I just, I just
Okay, all right.
I'm gonna do this.
This seems
'Cause I've got
nowhere else to put 'em, so I just
Yeah, yeah exactly,
in my pocket.
If I had suspenders
like a farmer I'd be
Right, yeah, yeah.
Well, I do.
Well, you do, yeah.
I do have
my suspenders, I can do that.
Okay,
this is, this is nice.
All right. I got the stand.
One of the reasons
why I think mariculture,
which is aquatic farming
that we call it in Alaska,
is such a great opportunity is
because there are so many people
here that grew up on boats,
they grew up fishing,
so people know how
to work in the water,
and most of the
people that do this
are people that
grew up on the water.
Part of the mission is to
provide opportunities for
the local community
to provide jobs.
All of the folks that, that work
around the farm are people that
live in these communities.
Since fishing
is often seasonal,
the kelp harvest
creates jobs for local fishers.
The success of this farm
could benefit the environment
and the Alaskan workforce.
So, Mark has to make money
to support and grow his business,
but kelp aren't like
tomatoes that you see sitting
on every supermarket shelf.
Is this financially viable?
Growing food in the
middle of the ocean?
We spend a lot of
time and money investing in this,
so we're looking for
other ways to expand revenue.
Mark is the most
earnest and optimistic person that
I think maybe I've ever met,
which is a great quality to have
if you're a business owner.
He loves his community.
He grew up here, starting a
new business in a new industry
was never gonna be easy,
and so he really accepted the challenge, and has been
pushing that rock up
the hill since day one,
and bringing others with him.
I don't have that many
opportunities to go do something
like this that has
lasting and meaningful change,
so I need to go be
the change I wanna see.
You wanna go check
out the kelp in the water?
Yes!
I have some gear here
and we can just tie off to
one of these buoys and
get straight in, if you want?
Oh, you mean
like in the water? We're going diving?
In the water, yeah.
Yes, let's do it.
Let's get on in there.
I'm just here to kelp.
.
I was already on
Prince of Wales Island
doing other work, met Mark,
actually went
to see one of his talks,
and I guess he
found that endearing,
and he offered me a job.
Working on a
kelp farm is pretty much
every seaweed scientist's
dream
when they're going
through their education.
Getting in the water
with Tiff is the perfect way to get
an up close look at the upside
down world of kelp farming.
All right,
are you excited?
Oh, yeah.
You seem pretty chill.
Good.
You're gonna
be really chill.
Yeah.
.
To do this, I
have to brave the icy cold waters of Alaska.
One, two, three.
We jump
right in, and that's when I felt and tasted Alaska.
When I saw the kelp
growing for the first time,
I was speechless.
Seeing something
that huge happening right under the surface.
And I'm just like,
"Wow, this is incredible."
If you look
just over here, we have some really nice sea kelp.
Swimming within the kelp
farm's kinda of a magical experience.
When you're in the water you
can't see anything around you
other than kelp lines.
Each grow line
is about 500 feet,
and those lines are
sitting underwater about
eight to ten feet deep.
It almost feels
like you're in space.
I can't compare
it to anything else.
Kelp is like
the forest of the ocean.
That salt water is freezing,
but the kelp underneath is
beautiful and pristine.
And we ate it
straight out of the ocean,
an experience like no other,
and it just made me get
behind their mission even more.
We could just
Lady and the Tramp it.
.
Would you
like me to kelp you out?
.
It's been so much fun,
I'm even starting
to enjoy Mark's puns.
But the clock is ticking.
Time to leave the crystalline
waters and get back on dry land,
to figure out how I can
help Mark secure the future
of his sustainable aqua farm.
That was so much fun, guys.
Hey, look who is.
Hey!
Oh hey, Maura!
Hey, guys.
So, Mark invited
Seagrove's Marketing Director,
Maura Scudero,
over to meet me.
Yeah, it's a fun job.
And to talk about the
challenges of introducing kelp
into various markets.
I think a large part of
my job is just teaching people
what they can do
with kelp, 'cause there's so much out there.
And it's more than
just the dried, you know,
sushi product,
which is what I think
what most people see it as.
Is there any other way
that you can kind of break into
the market for
things outside of food?
The sustainable
product that's good for the environment,
if we can push
it wherever we can.
You're positively
impacting the planet,
and in this super
tight-knit community as well.
Well, that's the goal.
That's what
we're trying to do, yeah.
Indy, it's a lot of
Alaska's coastal communities are
economically challenged
because there's not a lot
of opportunity for them.
And this is something that
can work wherever they are,
and people know
how to work on boats,
and work in the ocean, and
we're just getting started,
and I think there's a
lot more that we can do,
and frankly, a lot
more that we need to do.
I think we need to diversify.
People are
interested in building careers.
One issue
we have with kelp,
it's a very seasonal
product and that's hard to keep labor forces around,
and it's hard to
build careers for people.
Oh.
And so, we've thought
about diversification for
a few reasons, for economic
reasons and for labor reasons.
And if you
only have that one thing,
and if something bad
happens or it doesn't grow well, or,
you know, things like that,
then, you know, every,
you've got all your
eggs in that one basket.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Kelp farmers have a lot
of the same challenges as
those who work on land.
I'm on a mission,
and I, I wanna, I wanna make this farm work for
you guys, so I'll
be back in a few days.
All right.
Okay.
Yes, great.
Thanks Indy.
Mark is super friendly,
and he's full of dad jokes,
but he's also somebody who
cares deeply about his community.
I want to see this farm
live up to its potential.
Mark started Seagrove
in Alaska to bolster a new sustainable industry,
and provide job opportunities
for the local community.
So, I want to do
everything I can to set them on the right path.
I might be new to
the world of kelp,
but I still have
some farmer friends
who I know can help me out.
So, for now, I'm
leaving Alaska behind,
and heading back
to the lower 48,
to visit a scientist
whose been aqua farming for
more than three decades.
Somebody who is as
comfortable in hip waders
as he is in lab coat.
Awesome!
This is Thorndyke Bay.
Wow!
Meet Doctor Joth
Davis, a well-known aquatic farmer
who runs marine farms
around Hood Canal Washington.
So this shellfish farm
is on about 30 acres.
This is so different
than being out on the water.
Yeah, it's real different.
I told Joth
about Seagrove and their need to increase revenue.
So, he wanted to show me
some of the other species that
he cultivates in water, to
see if it spurs any ideas.
We might still be at sea farm,
but I'm feeling more at
home walking on solid ground.
I started the farm
with my late wife back in 1990.
We just started
farming oysters and clams.
My son, Caleb, he's
out here waiting for us.
So, this is
pretty much a family farm?
It is a
totally family farm, yeah.
Hey Caleb.
Hey.
Hey guys. How's it going?
Let me
introduce you to Indy.
How is going?
I'm Indy nice to meet you.
I'm Caleb. Nice to
meet you, how's it going?
What's going on out
here is Caleb is moving some
gear around for
harvesting geoduck.
Joth farms
various shellfish,
as well as kelp at
his Washington farms,
so I know I'm in
for some great advice,
and some
interesting seafood.
These things are very
high value each clam is, oh,
probably worth
about $30, $40.
No way!
Yeah.
It's a total delicacy in Asia.
There it is, there it is!
What?
Woo-hoo!
No!
A geoduck is
the largest species of burrowing clams in existence,
and Joth exports
these delicacies to Asia,
where they're
more widely eaten.
These clams are
definitely unique,
but I think Mark
should go with a crop that's a bit more mainstream.
I need to see what
else Joth has here.
We'll bring it home.
Oh, nice.
Yeah.
Let's go see some oysters
before the tide comes in.
Two good things about
marine farming oysters;
A, they don't walk away
Mm-hmm.
Right?
And you don't
have to feed 'em,
which is very unlike
like cows or chickens.
These are, these are oysters.
You can see the oysters
in here, and we'll open them up.
I just, I just pulled
an oyster out of a bag.
Do you wanna,
wanna shuck it?
So, what I do is I go
through the back of the oyster,
which is called the hinge.
So, I get in there about a
quarter inch with the knife,
and I kinda turn it
like I'm starting a car,
pull the shell off.
Wanna try it?
Jeez, yeah. Cheers.
Cheers.
There you go.
That is delicious.
.
Oysters are
popular and taste amazing.
They would be a great
product to grow and sell,
but Seagrove doesn't have
a beach like this where they
can farm oysters
in these cages.
You can adapt all of
this gear to growing oysters
with kelp, that's
the beauty of it.
That's
music to my ears.
So, if you already had a kelp
farm and you're already kind of
familiar with this lifestyle,
do you think that this adding in
oysters could be
profitable and
Oh, I do.
The costs of getting involved
with marine farming, it's,
it's expensive to put in
the moorings, and the anchors,
and the ropes,
and all those things.
Yeah.
Then you have,
instead of one crop,
you have two crops, that
you're able to pull out of the water.
If equipment for
cultivating oysters can be adapted for a kelp farm,
that would be
perfect for Mark and Tiff.
Since oysters can
be farmed year-round,
Seagrove could offer
even more job opportunities.
Oyster farming is nothing
new, but combining kelp and oysters
in the same growing space,
now that's an exciting surprise.
So, I'm back out on the water
with Joth and the manager of
his kelp farm, Charlie.
You can see the
farm right out in front of us.
Wow, where's your
tractor? JOTH: You're in it.
.
Doctor Joth Davis
is an aquatic farmer,
but he also has a Ph.D.
in fishery science.
So, he doesn't just
grow kelp, he studies it.
The original reason
for us even trying to grow kelp
out here was looking to see
if growing seaweeds could help
the levels of
acidification in Hood canal.
There's a lot of
dissolved carbon dioxide in the surface waters here.
And so, it turns all the
waters just slightly acidic,
and so what happens, kelp
actually takes up some of
the extra carbon in the water.
We've always thought of
ourselves as trying to do
regenerative sea farming.
I realize Doctor Joth
is on the same mission as
the folks at Seagrove.
He wants to grow
an amazing product,
but he also cares a
lot about the environment.
What are the
effects of acidification?
Like
Ah, yes.
You know, what
are you exactly seeing?
Some organisms that
require a shell, like oysters,
they actually are unable to
fully build their shells now,
because of the just a little
bit of acidity in sea water.
And it's mainly due to
all the carbon dioxide we're pumping into the air,
and that is having an
effect on the oceans.
So, what we're trying
to do here on a very,
very small scale is, at
least see if we can change
the chemistry of the water
coming through this farm.
We also wanna be able to
grow the seaweeds in close proximity
to the oysters that
we're also growing here.
All right, yeah, let's,
let's see these oysters.
All right,
let's go see some oysters.
I'll drive.
You wish.
One of our goals is to
figure out, the really,
the best way to put the
seaweed and the oysters
right next to each other,
because we know that if you can
take a little bit of carbon out
of the water and make the water
a little less acidic, that's
good for the oysters to make
the shells of the oysters
a little bit stronger.
We got oysters.
Oh, that's awesome!
Oh!
It's amazing to see how the
oyster cages have been adapted
to fit perfectly
within the kelp farm.
This is
definitely something that Seagrove could do in Alaska.
They grow from
about now through October,
when there's lots of
plankton in the seawater.
If you
already have a kelp farm,
then adding on oysters is
kind of like a no brainer?
Totally,
because the oysters love the plankton that's in the water,
the kelp is sucking up carbon,
and together we think that, boy,
growing kelp and, and
shellfish is the thing to do.
And you don't have
to feed them anything at all?
You don't
feed them anything, no.
We don't add anything,
they're just eating
what's natural to
them in Hood Canal.
You kind of just plant
the seeds and you spread it out
into the ocean, and
there's a lot of letting nature,
and letting the ocean do
some of that work for you.
Oysters could potentially
thrive within a kelp farm
because of the
environment that kelp creates.
They seem like the
perfect complimentary crops for Seagrove.
Because Washington is so
much further south than Alaska,
the kelp harvesting
season is nearly over.
This is
classic sugar kelp.
You can sort of see, this
has been fouled a little bit,
because we normally
would have harvested this.
Okay.
And so, it's not
fouled with all the critters,
but we have some left over.
These little round
things are called bryozoans.
And so, this will probably
go into an organic garden.
Oh, nice.
This will be
good used as fertilizer,
or potentially
bio-fuels or other things.
My friends in
Alaska at Seagrove Farm
Yeah, yeah.
Um
I kind of want to
find something for them
where they can use
some of their kelp,
not just culinary
but for other applications.
So, pieces like this
that aren't food quality,
this is going to a, like,
traditional land farm?
We're working
with the farmers that will be taking the kelp,
and this is great stuff for,
for making organic soils better.
So, you think in
traditional agriculture,
there's a use,
there's a market for this?
Absolutely.
I think
there is, yes, absolutely.
People are figuring
out new uses all the time.
With any style of
farming, it's really important to get as
much out of one
crop as you can.
Correct.
This trip
was a two for one.
I figured out a
second crop for Seagrove to diversify their farm,
and learned about a
non-culinary use for their kelp.
Thank you so much
for having me.
You are so welcome.
This has been so helpful.
I can't wait to head
back to Alaska with all of this new information,
but I have one more stop
in Washington State to make
before I can head back north.
Joth connected me
with his colleague,
Doctor Eli Wheat, an
environmental studies professor
who runs a 20 acre organic
farm on South Whidbey Island.
Doctor Wheat is
experimenting with applications
of kelp in traditional
agriculture settings.
So, this is the farm?
This is the farm, yes.
Joth said you were
here to see some kelp.
I would love to
see your kelp in action.
Eli's farm is an integrated
vegetable and animal farm,
that uses an
ecosystem based approach,
and focuses on
regenerative agriculture.
So, I'm curious to
find out exactly how he is using the kelp.
Land and sea farms
uniting in perfect harmony.
Now, that's exciting.
And this, uh, is the kelp.
Wow!
I brought the kelp here
about a week and a half ago.
Oh, okay.
Um
And it's been
setting here to dry.
Well, you can smell it.
It smells a little
bit like the ocean, yeah?
Oh, it does, it does!
Oh, this is awesome!
It's, it's really
I just love it there's
It's just
so cool, just like a
Like kelp in
the middle of a farm right now.
Yeah. Yeah.
What we see is that
when we put the kelp down,
the grass just starts
to grow so much better.
It's kinda of phenomenal.
Wow!
This was 2100 pounds,
so that's about a ton.
This is what a ton
of kelp looks like.
How much area
are you applying the kelp to?
Maybe half an acre,
more or less.
So a ton per half acre?
You really couldn't
get enough kelp on a farm.
You couldn't
get enough kelp.
But one of the big
questions is, like,
how can we extend them,
the benefit of kelp?
Is there some way to, like,
super dry it and make
something like a kelp pellet, right,
that you can just
spread across your fields?
Right!
Almost like even mulch with it.
Absolutely.
And so, these are the
questions that we're currently exploring
on this farm so that we
can pull nutrients out of
the nearshore system where
it's causing a lot pollution,
and bring those nutrients
and this carbon up here into
the grasslands where it's
gonna stimulate production.
The idea is that
this kelp is drawing carbon
out of the ocean.
It's the craziest thing
Yeah, yeah.
I just love it.
Some carbon dioxide
that ends up in the atmosphere
is absorbed by the oceans.
And as Doctor
Joth Davis mentioned,
excess carbon causes the
sea water to have increased acidity.
Kelp in the ocean,
much like plants on land,
draw carbon dioxide in and
take it out of their surroundings.
But as Eli points out,
when that kelp is
transferred to land,
the soil stores the
carbon and can benefit
from the seaweed's nutrients.
In the ocean, nitrogen
and carbon are an issue.
And so, then the
kelp takes it up,
like a little vehicle, and
then you just take it here and
put it in the soil.
Wow!
We're benefiting
the marine system, and then
we can start to
benefit the terrestrial system.
That, that's
honestly so freaking cool.
I think it's super
exciting the thing about
how this could be a piece of
what we do to address some of
the big challenges
with climate change.
Yeah.
Eli is one of those people
with contagious enthusiasm.
Really passionate
about the work,
but also cares
about the environment.
But what I also love about
this is, like, it didn't come in
any kind of packaging
and you sourced it locally.
So, this is stored carbon,
and we can take
this stored carbon,
put it out on
grassland or pastures,
and those grasslands
can sequester more carbon,
putting it down in
the soil and storing it.
You know, I
grew up around of lot of traditional agricultural farms,
and so bringing
something like this,
something that's
exciting into the market,
something that's new,
as a farmer, it's, like,
we're spending money
to get carbon rich materials,
and here it is just
hanging out in the ocean.
And you're putting
it into your soil,
and then you're growing
some really nice grass,
but then what are you
doing with that grass?
Grass. It does
require some grazers.
So, we should go look
at some of the pastures.
Oh! Oh yeah?
Should we go check them out?
Wow, bye seaweed.
If Eli needs a ton of kelp
just to fertilize half an acre,
I'm sure he could use
another supplier like Seagrove.
Bulk agricultural sales
like this could wildly expand
Seagrove's kelp markets.
So, I'm excited to see
the impact of this kelp on the soil in the pasture,
and I cannot wait to see
who is reaping the benefits.
Let's go
meet the grazers.
Oh, no! What!
Hey goats.
.
Oh my gosh. Babies!
What's this one's name?
Mugwort.
I love that.
So, you're
incorporating seaweed into this field where they graze?
Yeah, we
have been adding kelp.
What we wanna do is
change the form of carbon,
and we wanna put it
some place where it can stay for a long time.
And it turns out.
Soils that aren't
being tilled are really good
stable storage
location for carbon.
It's like
taking a poison and
finding a good
place to hide it away.
Right.
And it's having this
added in bonus of helping, like,
produce more food, right?
Right.
Tell me again how you're
getting the seaweed into this area.
We've literally got a
dump truck load of seaweed,
and we spread it
out on the soil.
Where the seaweed was,
the grass is like dark,
and green, and lush.
What!
So, you can actually see
the difference in the soil
where you've
added seaweed?
Everything
about the grass is, like, healthier, bigger, stronger.
So, we're like, well,
it's so obvious.
It's amazing
how this all works.
The goats, the soil
the farm, and the environment
are all reaping
the benefits of kelp.
You could use
more seaweed, right?
I could
always use more seaweed.
Well, that's amazing,
because I have these friends
at Seagrove Farm in Alaska,
so if you could use
seaweed year round.
Oh wow! For sure.
And they could
always use someone to sell their seaweed to.
I think
there's no limit, you know?
There's a lot of
farms like this right here in,
in Western Washington, so.
Right.
I wanna help contribute to
that mission of, of farming in
a way that's incredible for
the soil, great for the planet,
and then you're also
feeding your community.
Mm-hmm.
So, I think I'm gonna
go get you some more seaweed.
Oh, heck yeah.
Yeah.
.
And Mugwort,
catch you next time, buddy.
I'm floored by
Eli's discoveries,
and of the seemingly
endless possibilities
that kelp has to offer.
Now I'm excited to
get back to Seagrove and
share all that I've learned.
I'm so glad
you could come.
I'm so glad that I
could come and see all of this.
Mark has a lot of
work to do to get this company a financial boost but
I have a few surprises
that I think will help Seagrove.
One of my gifts
requires a big boat,
so I hitched a ride to the
kelp farm with Mark's friend,
Captain Vaughn.
He's a local
commercial fisherman who helms the Anna Lyn.
So, that's them.
We're pretty close, yeah?
That, that
is the Glacier Breeze.
Shall we call him?
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mark is out with the
team harvesting kelp.
We're supposed to meet up,
but he doesn't know I'm arriving
aboard his friends boat.
This is the Anna
Lyn. This is Anna Lyn calling
VAUGHN
Glacier Breeze. Channel 16, over.
Anna Lyn,
Glacier Breeze.
I have a
surprise for you.
MARK
Yeah, I was wondering. I didn't expect you out here.
What's going on?
Mark.
Yes?
This is Indy.
Indy!
What's
going on, Indy?
Hi.
I'm back, baby.
INDAY
Can't wait to see you
I've got something
really awesome to show you.
All right, all right.
MARK
Yeah, come along port side.
Farm Rescue on a boat ♪
I'm just so
excited that I'm getting to surprise Mark in this way.
Hi!
It's incredible.
Hi.
Indy!
Hey.
Welcome back.
Yes, and I
didn't come back alone.
Joth, is that you?
Hey!
What are
you doing here?
Doctor Joth Davis
agreed to come with me
all the way back to Alaska.
Joth is an
aquatic farming legend, so,
of course Mark
recognized him right away.
Well, welcome
to Doyle Bay, Joth.
I'm thrilled
to be here, Mark.
What's going on?
We're gonna
work on some oysters.
That is awesome!
Yeah!
I mean, you
should jump aboard.
We've got a bunch
to show you.
Joth convinced me that
cultivating oysters would be
the best way to help
diversify Seagrove's kelp farm,
and create more
year round work.
I mean, I explained the
farm to Joth, and he was, like,
"Perfect, could totally
be growing oysters there,"
so I'm excited to put
all this stuff to use and
throw it in the water,
and see what we can grow.
We're gonna drop
in a mooring of an anchor,
stretch out a long lines, about
200 feet of long line space.
And then, once that's set,
we'll go about putting some oyster,
small oyster
seeds into some cages,
and see how we can help you
grow oysters the very best you can.
Wow!
That is really cool.
Let's do it.
I would say we wanna
run the mooring in line with
your prevailing storm wind.
So we could
probably set one out here, and,
and run that way.
Yeah. Yeah.
Easy squeezy.
Joth is great.
I mean, he's such a wealth
of information and experience,
and to have that
resource available to us,
it has to make us better.
Woo-hoo.
We've set up new
anchors and buoy lines within
the parameter of the farm,
right next to the kelp.
Boop.
There we are.
Bye Buoy.
Okay.
Okay, we're on bottom.
We're on bottom.
Hey, great job!
That was awesome.
We got a strong line.
Ready to roll.
Now all that's left is to
bring out the stars of the show.
Oh wow, those are awesome.
Here we are.
Oh, cool.
Oh Mark,
look at these guys.
We brought you some
nice looking oyster seeds.
Babies.
Yeah.
Man!
Well, what kind
of oysters do we have?
These are
a Pacific Oysters,
pretty much the
staple oyster that's used all over the Pacific coast.
And it's a good species
for Alaska because it'll grow reasonably quickly,
even in the
cooler waters up here.
Well that's awesome.
So, kelps has gotten a lot of
attention lately as being a hero
for climate change, but
oysters are also an everyday hero.
They're phenomenal at
filtering out water to remove
excess nutrients, impurities,
they can filter gallons of water
through themselves
in a day, one oyster.
Wait, so, how
old are these little guys?
These are
probably six months to a year.
Look at that one.
That is so cute.
Much like kelp, farmed
shellfish are also often bred
and grown initially in
a nursery or hatchery.
Oysters, as Joth mentioned,
are a low impact,
low maintenance
miracle to your crop,
and generally
feed on phytoplankton, also known as micro algae,
which already
exists in seawaters.
Eventually, these are
gonna become half shell oysters,
perfect for serving
shucked on the half shell.
Oysters are high in
protein and rich in vitamins.
You can buy oysters
cultivated at a farm,
or harvested in the wild.
Farmed oysters grow more
quickly than those in the wild,
and their size and
shape is more consistent.
You wanna have about
50 oysters per square foot
of growing space.
We're, like, holding
your future farm right here.
This is so exciting.
I'm just, I'm, I'm thrilled.
Now we
get the fun stuff.
Joth is
giving Seagrove a leg up,
offering expert
advice on farming oysters
alongside kelp in
the Alaskan climate,
so Mark and his team
have the best chances of success in the oyster test run.
This is the first
seeding of oysters in Doyle Bay.
Like, two
thirds of a cup.
That is so cool.
You know, how often should
we come back to these and?
I would check, I would
check these every, if you can,
check 'em out
every week or so.
All right.
And what should we
be looking for when we're checking?
You wanna look to
see if there's a really,
really feathery growth edge
around the oyster itself.
Okay.
You wanna see that
they're actually starting to
grow a little bit, putting
on a little bit of shell.
It's amazing working
with Tiff and Mark to help make
their dream a reality, I have
so much respect for how well
they collaborate as a team.
So, these guys are happy.
We can throw
them in the ocean?
Yeah, we're ready
to throw these in the ocean.
Indy, you gonna help me?
Yeah, of course.
Let her rip.
Ah-ha!
Oysters in the water.
It's amazing.
Our first oysters, I love it.
First oysters
are over the side.
I love it.
I'm so excited
that I get to be a part of
this stage of Seagrove farm.
Putting in the first oyster felt
like planting the first seed.
And as Joth mentioned,
farming these oysters near the kelp
could really help
the shellfish to thrive.
How long are those
babies gonna take to grow?
They will start
growing within a week,
and you will probably have a
good sized oyster for markets in
at least two years,
something like that.
Mm-hmm. Okay.
Yeah.
Maybe a little longer.
Just depends.
I mean, one of the big things
we need to know about this site
is actually how well
the oysters grow, right?
Yeah.
This is so exciting to
see what it means for your farm.
Yeah!
To
To have this as an addition.
Shellfish
and seaweed together,
hopefully they'll
grow better with each other around themselves.
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Plus, now you got a
whole other income stream, right?
Being able to grow oysters on
the same footprint as seaweed is
a really great way to really,
really increase your margins.
Speaking of
increasing their margins,
I've got even more
in store for Seagrove.
So, weren't you guys
harvesting kelp when I first showed up?
Yeah, we were
just getting into it.
Shall we get back to it?
Joth put Seagrove on the
right path to diversify their crops
and extend the
farming season.
But they still need to make
more money off their kelp,
and for that, they need to find
more partnerships with clients
who want to use kelp
for non-culinary products.
All right.
A little sample of
what we're harvesting out there.
Here, let's open this up.
Here, give me it here.
I'll help you out.
Oh yeah, thanks.
So, what do you say
could I, could I grab about 4,000 pounds of this?
I'm serious, because
Really?
Yeah.
Joth actually introduced
me to his friend, Eli,
who has this, you know,
traditional farm on land,
and Joth sells his kelp
to him to use as fertilizer.
Okay.
But your
seasons are kind of awesome,
because they
line up back to back.
So, once Joth kelp
season ends, yours begins.
Awesome!
So once Joth
isn't able to sell his kelp to the farm anymore,
that's when you
guys could pick up.
Well, that,
that sounds wonderful.
Thank you so much.
Yeah.
Excellent.
I think that this could
be a great resource for you.
Yeah, it'd be great.
And I'd love to see
how our sugar kelp helps.
Sweet.
Thank you so much, Joth.
Oh, my pleasure.
I know you
weren't planning on coming up to Alaska but
I, I loved it. I loved it!
I really wanna stay in
touch with the project,
so keep me in the loop.
Yeah, will do.
Yeah.
Mark and his
team are devoted to Alaska,
and believe their
kelp business will help both
the local community
and the environment.
They've taken the first step
in diversifying their crops,
but it'll take time before
we know if the oysters will
flourish at their Alaskan site.
Thank you very much.
Thank you and thank you.
Yes, of
course! Of course.
They've also been connected
with a non-culinary collaborator
in Doctor Eli Wheat, but
they'll need to pursue even more
partnerships once I'm gone to
continue to grow their business.
I can't wait to see the
progress Seagroves makes
in a couple of months.
As Mark would say, I've done
what I can to kelp them out.
The rest is up to them.
It's been a
little over a month since
I was up north in Alaska.
I'm anxious to
see Mark and Tiff,
and see how things are going
at Seagrove, and the kelp farm.
Hey.
Hey Indy!
How are you?
Can I jump on?
Yeah, welcome aboard.
Oh, yeah.
I left them with
a second crop, oysters.
Oysters in the water.
And a new potential
partnership to help diversify
their products, in
which their kelp is used.
I just hope it was
enough to keep Mark and
Seagrove on course.
We're just
finishing up harvest this week.
That's awesome.
I know!
There's so much
kelp in the water,
we're about two or
three weeks behind where we thought we would be,
so it's a good
problem to have, really.
Yeah. Yeah.
Some of
these fronds, they're like ten, 15 feet in length,
which is almost
the double the size
we've seen in previous years.
Seagrove has a
massive supply to unload.
I bet Doctor Eli Wheat
will be thrilled to receive
this abundance of
kelp for the farm pasture.
So, who are the folks that are
harvesting the seaweed here?
The harvesting crew
is led by two brothers,
and they're actually growing
the kelp and then selling it.
Wow.
So, it's part
of the relationship,
so rather than just
earning a wage, you know,
like this year, we
had a great crop and
they get to benefit from it.
They're able to
actually profit personally from
the work that they're doing?
I love that model.
This provides a
completely new opportunity,
primarily for salmon
fishermen, to diversify what they're doing.
All of these fishing boats
would otherwise be sitting at the dock
and not working
if it weren't for the opportunity that this presents.
As Mark
mentioned in my last visit,
Alaska is home to many
fishermen and women who
often rely on seasonal work.
With the kelp farm,
they have more potential employment opportunities.
Seeing them
hiring more people and
reaching out to
the local community,
and other individuals
who have different ideas,
and bringing in
that level of ingenuity
is what makes a farm a
vibrant place of work.
It has been such a
pleasure to have Indy come here
and see what we're doing,
and as importantly why we're doing it.
We want everybody
to be vested in,
and want it to be successful,
and I hope it's a model
that will go beyond just us.
Yeah.
All right, let's
go see those oysters.
Hey, I'm excited.
See you soon.
In addition to
the ever growing harvest,
the oyster test run is key to
ensuring more year round jobs
for the local fishermen.
Oh wow, easy.
All right.
Which one?
Oh, that's a good one.
Yeah.
All right,
let's go take a look.
I really hope
they've thrived in the icy Alaskan waters of Doyle Bay.
Let's see how we did.
You ready?
I'm ready.
Yeah! Oh my gosh!
Yeah, these are
huge compared to before.
Mm-hmm.
Look at them!
I know, and
they're all frilly!
Getting a nice cup
forming on those too.
I mean, all
of that right there,
that's all new growth
since we put 'em in.
What I'm most
struck by is the size
that the oysters have reached.
After less than two months
seeing that they've grown
exponentially makes me
excited for the future of Seagrove.
Oh man, so they're
happy here.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, you
guys are doing it.
Mm-hmm.
We're starting,
and it's a great start.
They've
taken oysters on as their new project and run with it.
Oh, nice.
Until next time, oysters.
Next year,
there'll be hundreds of rows of oyster trays,
just like that, out there with
millions of oysters in there.
Imagine that vision.
That's the dream,
that's the dream.
Indy bringing Joth up to
Alaska has been instrumental in
getting us started
with our oyster journey.
And so, we're excited
about including oysters in what
we're doing so we can have
year round work available for people
that are employed with us.
If all goes to plan,
they'll seed the
farm every year,
and since oysters
grow at different rates,
they'll harvest them
as they become mature.
That harvest was insane.
It's a good
year for sugar kelp.
Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Optimistic for
what they might be able to produce in the future.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
And then, have you
found other ways to
bring your
seaweed to the market?
Yeah, we've actually,
we've been working with a lot of
product developers on their
products that they wanna sell.
Like what?
Well
Well, so we've got
some examples to show you.
Show and tell time.
So a woman who
grew up as a fisherman in Cordova, Alaska,
she used our
ribbon kelp to come up with
a number of these
really cool skincare products.
So cool! What!
Yeah, really cool.
This is awesome.
I'm so glad that you
guys have been able to do this.
You have so much seaweed.
Getting it out
into products like this,
this is exactly
what I imagined.
There's so many cool
concepts that are coming out of
the seaweed world right now,
not just this but bio plastics,
and a whole host of
different products that
they're making out of
seaweed because it's so versatile.
Like Doctor Eli Wheat down
at the University of Washington
using it for fertilizer
in their organic beds.
It's a no brainer, yeah.
Seaweed belongs
in our world.
There's a community of
support that's building across Alaska,
where we're all learning from
each other and we're all helping
each other grow,
because everyone needs to be successful to,
to make this thing happen.
Thank you
both for, honestly,
for converting me
into a kelp nerd.
And also seeing how
you're not only creating all of these incredible products,
but also putting
local folks to work.
And Indy, really,
thank you for coming up and
bringing a, this
new opportunity.
It's really, it's
really been a special time and we really appreciate it.
Mark has a lot of
passion about the work he does.
He cares deeply
about this community,
and I think that's so
much of that stems from
his upbringing here in Alaska.
This is the future of farming,
and it's doing it
in a way that's sustainable,
and that employs
local people and
makes growing
food exciting again.
I think that farming is fun.
Mark and Tiff are extremely
knowledgeable about kelp.
Thank you, come,
come back next year,
we'll have
oyster feed right here.
Thank you.
Sounds so good.
And Mark is always
the optimist.
But more importantly,
they have dedication to
their farm to the environment,
and to the people
with whom they live and work,
it's a commitment I
admire in any farmer working
the land or the sea.
Captioned by
Cotter Media Group.
If you've ever
dreamed of owning a farm,
come with me.
Things are living and
things are growing on a rooftop.
I'm Indy Officinalis.
I'm a farmer who loves
helping other farmers.
My passion for farming
started in my teens,
working on a
homestead in North Carolina,
and led me to
urban farming in LA.
I've worked on farms
from coast to coast,
but farming is hard work.
We planted about
ten varieties of fruit trees
and they all died.
So, I'm traveling the
country to offer some hope.
Hi.
Indy!
Oh,
my gosh, Indy!
Join me as I
transform farms on rooftops,
in backyards, warehouses.
This is insane!
And even out on the ocean.
Farm rescue on a boat.
And on the way, we'll
get tips from some of my expert farmer friends.
This is so
awesome! I'm so excited!
Today, I'm in
one of the beautiful places in the world, Alaska.
What's up?
Come on over!
I don't think
I've ever met a farmer
on the water like this.
All right, let's go.
Let's do it.
Hello Alaska.
This is stunning.
I'm out on a boat
with farmer Mark Seheer,
whose passion is
to utilize Alaska's beautiful natural resources
to produce a
sustainable commercial crop,
and offer more job
opportunities to the local fishing community.
I will do everything
I can to help him with
this environmentally
friendly venture,
so that his unconventional
farm doesn't go adrift.
All right. Welcome
to the Doyle Bay Kelp farm.
Yay.
This is where
Seagrove grows all of it's seaweed.
You wanna go take a tour?
I'd love to.
Let's go take a look.
While I'm more
accustomed to farming on land,
Mark and his
company's chief scientist,
Doctor Tiff Stephens,
are aqua farmers.
They grow kelp off the shores
of Prince of Wales Island
in South East Alaska.
Mark founded the
Seagrove Kelp Company to
support his farm and
to sell this versatile
and environmentally
friendly food product.
As you approach, you
start seeing all of these
little floating orange buoys.
Those are actually what
the kelp is growing on.
So, it was incredible to
be actually on a farm where
you're floating
above the crop.
So, how long have you
guys been here in the middle of the ocean farming?
So, so, we, uh, we
put kelp in the water in 2019.
And so, we're just about
to go into our third harvest.
But we're hoping to produce
probably 100 to 200 tons of, uh,
of seaweed this year.
Is there a
market for that?
Asia's been doing
it for hundreds of years.
In North America we've been
producing farmed seaweeds for
about 30 years.
And one of the reasons
that we wanted to do this was,
the economic model in
Alaska's been primarily extraction based.
You come to Alaska, which is
so amazingly lush with resources,
you know, and you take it out,
and you take it somewhere,
and this is such a
different model because we can grow food locally,
there's no fertilizer,
there's no pesticides, and,
and the water in
Alaska is so pristine.
I moved to Alaska in 1982.
This was where I started.
And I think the opportunity
to bring something home
that can, hopefully, make
these communities better and stronger,
I feel pretty fortunate to
have the opportunity to do that.
As I'm talking to Mark,
I'm realizing it's not just
about growing
kelp and selling it,
he really comes from this
environmentalist background.
He wants to make the
planet a better place.
So, how do you actually
access the kelp that's under the buoys?
Let's go
pull a kelp line.
All right.
There is one right there.
All right.
Grab this buoy, right here.
Oh, wow,
that's awesome!
That's so cool! No way!
So, that's sugar kelp.
This is beautiful!
It is pretty stunning.
Seaweeds have have
sustained human civilization
since time immemorial.
I like to say that
all kelps are seaweeds,
but not all seaweeds are kelps.
Kelp are large algaes
that live in cold seawater.
Though it might
look like a plant,
and is photosynthetic,
kelp are actually protists,
a kingdom created for
organisms that cannot be categorized
as plants, animals or fungi.
You wanna try a bite?
Just go, yeah.
So, that is delicious.
It's, like, crisp, delicate.
It's like the
potato chips of the sea.
That's a
great way to put it.
And the kelp starts
here? This is where it begins?
We start in the
nursery in Ketchikan.
Commercial kelp
are generally grown first in
a nursery, before
being placed in the ocean.
Light, water, temperature
all must be controlled,
much the way plants
are grown in a greenhouse.
You seed it in the fall,
and it will, we'll put
it out with the buoys.
And if we do our job right,
we don't really have to touch it
until the spring until harvest.
Wow.
And the cool
thing about growing kelp is,
we don't have to add
nutrients and so we're not adding things to the system.
Mm-hmm.
And with Tiff's
expertise in marine science,
she knows exactly
what to look for while monitoring the kelp farm.
So, we're
growing local species.
We wanna do this in an
environmentally friendly way,
we wanna be sustainable,
and it is farming.
All to the same things,
like nutrients and light,
they all matter, just
like if you were doing land based agriculture.
Right, exactly.
If you were growing corn,
it's the same.
Right.
Yeah.
All right, we're clear.
But farming kelp does
come with it's own unique challenges.
Argh!
Like keeping your
balance on a moving boat.
Bending your
knees is really important.
I'm one of
those people who, like,
falls over on land,
just, like, standing there.
Oh.
So. And
what do I do with my?
What are you
doing with your hands?
Oh, you're putting
them on your
I just, I just
Okay, all right.
I'm gonna do this.
This seems
'Cause I've got
nowhere else to put 'em, so I just
Yeah, yeah exactly,
in my pocket.
If I had suspenders
like a farmer I'd be
Right, yeah, yeah.
Well, I do.
Well, you do, yeah.
I do have
my suspenders, I can do that.
Okay,
this is, this is nice.
All right. I got the stand.
One of the reasons
why I think mariculture,
which is aquatic farming
that we call it in Alaska,
is such a great opportunity is
because there are so many people
here that grew up on boats,
they grew up fishing,
so people know how
to work in the water,
and most of the
people that do this
are people that
grew up on the water.
Part of the mission is to
provide opportunities for
the local community
to provide jobs.
All of the folks that, that work
around the farm are people that
live in these communities.
Since fishing
is often seasonal,
the kelp harvest
creates jobs for local fishers.
The success of this farm
could benefit the environment
and the Alaskan workforce.
So, Mark has to make money
to support and grow his business,
but kelp aren't like
tomatoes that you see sitting
on every supermarket shelf.
Is this financially viable?
Growing food in the
middle of the ocean?
We spend a lot of
time and money investing in this,
so we're looking for
other ways to expand revenue.
Mark is the most
earnest and optimistic person that
I think maybe I've ever met,
which is a great quality to have
if you're a business owner.
He loves his community.
He grew up here, starting a
new business in a new industry
was never gonna be easy,
and so he really accepted the challenge, and has been
pushing that rock up
the hill since day one,
and bringing others with him.
I don't have that many
opportunities to go do something
like this that has
lasting and meaningful change,
so I need to go be
the change I wanna see.
You wanna go check
out the kelp in the water?
Yes!
I have some gear here
and we can just tie off to
one of these buoys and
get straight in, if you want?
Oh, you mean
like in the water? We're going diving?
In the water, yeah.
Yes, let's do it.
Let's get on in there.
I'm just here to kelp.
.
I was already on
Prince of Wales Island
doing other work, met Mark,
actually went
to see one of his talks,
and I guess he
found that endearing,
and he offered me a job.
Working on a
kelp farm is pretty much
every seaweed scientist's
dream
when they're going
through their education.
Getting in the water
with Tiff is the perfect way to get
an up close look at the upside
down world of kelp farming.
All right,
are you excited?
Oh, yeah.
You seem pretty chill.
Good.
You're gonna
be really chill.
Yeah.
.
To do this, I
have to brave the icy cold waters of Alaska.
One, two, three.
We jump
right in, and that's when I felt and tasted Alaska.
When I saw the kelp
growing for the first time,
I was speechless.
Seeing something
that huge happening right under the surface.
And I'm just like,
"Wow, this is incredible."
If you look
just over here, we have some really nice sea kelp.
Swimming within the kelp
farm's kinda of a magical experience.
When you're in the water you
can't see anything around you
other than kelp lines.
Each grow line
is about 500 feet,
and those lines are
sitting underwater about
eight to ten feet deep.
It almost feels
like you're in space.
I can't compare
it to anything else.
Kelp is like
the forest of the ocean.
That salt water is freezing,
but the kelp underneath is
beautiful and pristine.
And we ate it
straight out of the ocean,
an experience like no other,
and it just made me get
behind their mission even more.
We could just
Lady and the Tramp it.
.
Would you
like me to kelp you out?
.
It's been so much fun,
I'm even starting
to enjoy Mark's puns.
But the clock is ticking.
Time to leave the crystalline
waters and get back on dry land,
to figure out how I can
help Mark secure the future
of his sustainable aqua farm.
That was so much fun, guys.
Hey, look who is.
Hey!
Oh hey, Maura!
Hey, guys.
So, Mark invited
Seagrove's Marketing Director,
Maura Scudero,
over to meet me.
Yeah, it's a fun job.
And to talk about the
challenges of introducing kelp
into various markets.
I think a large part of
my job is just teaching people
what they can do
with kelp, 'cause there's so much out there.
And it's more than
just the dried, you know,
sushi product,
which is what I think
what most people see it as.
Is there any other way
that you can kind of break into
the market for
things outside of food?
The sustainable
product that's good for the environment,
if we can push
it wherever we can.
You're positively
impacting the planet,
and in this super
tight-knit community as well.
Well, that's the goal.
That's what
we're trying to do, yeah.
Indy, it's a lot of
Alaska's coastal communities are
economically challenged
because there's not a lot
of opportunity for them.
And this is something that
can work wherever they are,
and people know
how to work on boats,
and work in the ocean, and
we're just getting started,
and I think there's a
lot more that we can do,
and frankly, a lot
more that we need to do.
I think we need to diversify.
People are
interested in building careers.
One issue
we have with kelp,
it's a very seasonal
product and that's hard to keep labor forces around,
and it's hard to
build careers for people.
Oh.
And so, we've thought
about diversification for
a few reasons, for economic
reasons and for labor reasons.
And if you
only have that one thing,
and if something bad
happens or it doesn't grow well, or,
you know, things like that,
then, you know, every,
you've got all your
eggs in that one basket.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Kelp farmers have a lot
of the same challenges as
those who work on land.
I'm on a mission,
and I, I wanna, I wanna make this farm work for
you guys, so I'll
be back in a few days.
All right.
Okay.
Yes, great.
Thanks Indy.
Mark is super friendly,
and he's full of dad jokes,
but he's also somebody who
cares deeply about his community.
I want to see this farm
live up to its potential.
Mark started Seagrove
in Alaska to bolster a new sustainable industry,
and provide job opportunities
for the local community.
So, I want to do
everything I can to set them on the right path.
I might be new to
the world of kelp,
but I still have
some farmer friends
who I know can help me out.
So, for now, I'm
leaving Alaska behind,
and heading back
to the lower 48,
to visit a scientist
whose been aqua farming for
more than three decades.
Somebody who is as
comfortable in hip waders
as he is in lab coat.
Awesome!
This is Thorndyke Bay.
Wow!
Meet Doctor Joth
Davis, a well-known aquatic farmer
who runs marine farms
around Hood Canal Washington.
So this shellfish farm
is on about 30 acres.
This is so different
than being out on the water.
Yeah, it's real different.
I told Joth
about Seagrove and their need to increase revenue.
So, he wanted to show me
some of the other species that
he cultivates in water, to
see if it spurs any ideas.
We might still be at sea farm,
but I'm feeling more at
home walking on solid ground.
I started the farm
with my late wife back in 1990.
We just started
farming oysters and clams.
My son, Caleb, he's
out here waiting for us.
So, this is
pretty much a family farm?
It is a
totally family farm, yeah.
Hey Caleb.
Hey.
Hey guys. How's it going?
Let me
introduce you to Indy.
How is going?
I'm Indy nice to meet you.
I'm Caleb. Nice to
meet you, how's it going?
What's going on out
here is Caleb is moving some
gear around for
harvesting geoduck.
Joth farms
various shellfish,
as well as kelp at
his Washington farms,
so I know I'm in
for some great advice,
and some
interesting seafood.
These things are very
high value each clam is, oh,
probably worth
about $30, $40.
No way!
Yeah.
It's a total delicacy in Asia.
There it is, there it is!
What?
Woo-hoo!
No!
A geoduck is
the largest species of burrowing clams in existence,
and Joth exports
these delicacies to Asia,
where they're
more widely eaten.
These clams are
definitely unique,
but I think Mark
should go with a crop that's a bit more mainstream.
I need to see what
else Joth has here.
We'll bring it home.
Oh, nice.
Yeah.
Let's go see some oysters
before the tide comes in.
Two good things about
marine farming oysters;
A, they don't walk away
Mm-hmm.
Right?
And you don't
have to feed 'em,
which is very unlike
like cows or chickens.
These are, these are oysters.
You can see the oysters
in here, and we'll open them up.
I just, I just pulled
an oyster out of a bag.
Do you wanna,
wanna shuck it?
So, what I do is I go
through the back of the oyster,
which is called the hinge.
So, I get in there about a
quarter inch with the knife,
and I kinda turn it
like I'm starting a car,
pull the shell off.
Wanna try it?
Jeez, yeah. Cheers.
Cheers.
There you go.
That is delicious.
.
Oysters are
popular and taste amazing.
They would be a great
product to grow and sell,
but Seagrove doesn't have
a beach like this where they
can farm oysters
in these cages.
You can adapt all of
this gear to growing oysters
with kelp, that's
the beauty of it.
That's
music to my ears.
So, if you already had a kelp
farm and you're already kind of
familiar with this lifestyle,
do you think that this adding in
oysters could be
profitable and
Oh, I do.
The costs of getting involved
with marine farming, it's,
it's expensive to put in
the moorings, and the anchors,
and the ropes,
and all those things.
Yeah.
Then you have,
instead of one crop,
you have two crops, that
you're able to pull out of the water.
If equipment for
cultivating oysters can be adapted for a kelp farm,
that would be
perfect for Mark and Tiff.
Since oysters can
be farmed year-round,
Seagrove could offer
even more job opportunities.
Oyster farming is nothing
new, but combining kelp and oysters
in the same growing space,
now that's an exciting surprise.
So, I'm back out on the water
with Joth and the manager of
his kelp farm, Charlie.
You can see the
farm right out in front of us.
Wow, where's your
tractor? JOTH: You're in it.
.
Doctor Joth Davis
is an aquatic farmer,
but he also has a Ph.D.
in fishery science.
So, he doesn't just
grow kelp, he studies it.
The original reason
for us even trying to grow kelp
out here was looking to see
if growing seaweeds could help
the levels of
acidification in Hood canal.
There's a lot of
dissolved carbon dioxide in the surface waters here.
And so, it turns all the
waters just slightly acidic,
and so what happens, kelp
actually takes up some of
the extra carbon in the water.
We've always thought of
ourselves as trying to do
regenerative sea farming.
I realize Doctor Joth
is on the same mission as
the folks at Seagrove.
He wants to grow
an amazing product,
but he also cares a
lot about the environment.
What are the
effects of acidification?
Like
Ah, yes.
You know, what
are you exactly seeing?
Some organisms that
require a shell, like oysters,
they actually are unable to
fully build their shells now,
because of the just a little
bit of acidity in sea water.
And it's mainly due to
all the carbon dioxide we're pumping into the air,
and that is having an
effect on the oceans.
So, what we're trying
to do here on a very,
very small scale is, at
least see if we can change
the chemistry of the water
coming through this farm.
We also wanna be able to
grow the seaweeds in close proximity
to the oysters that
we're also growing here.
All right, yeah, let's,
let's see these oysters.
All right,
let's go see some oysters.
I'll drive.
You wish.
One of our goals is to
figure out, the really,
the best way to put the
seaweed and the oysters
right next to each other,
because we know that if you can
take a little bit of carbon out
of the water and make the water
a little less acidic, that's
good for the oysters to make
the shells of the oysters
a little bit stronger.
We got oysters.
Oh, that's awesome!
Oh!
It's amazing to see how the
oyster cages have been adapted
to fit perfectly
within the kelp farm.
This is
definitely something that Seagrove could do in Alaska.
They grow from
about now through October,
when there's lots of
plankton in the seawater.
If you
already have a kelp farm,
then adding on oysters is
kind of like a no brainer?
Totally,
because the oysters love the plankton that's in the water,
the kelp is sucking up carbon,
and together we think that, boy,
growing kelp and, and
shellfish is the thing to do.
And you don't have
to feed them anything at all?
You don't
feed them anything, no.
We don't add anything,
they're just eating
what's natural to
them in Hood Canal.
You kind of just plant
the seeds and you spread it out
into the ocean, and
there's a lot of letting nature,
and letting the ocean do
some of that work for you.
Oysters could potentially
thrive within a kelp farm
because of the
environment that kelp creates.
They seem like the
perfect complimentary crops for Seagrove.
Because Washington is so
much further south than Alaska,
the kelp harvesting
season is nearly over.
This is
classic sugar kelp.
You can sort of see, this
has been fouled a little bit,
because we normally
would have harvested this.
Okay.
And so, it's not
fouled with all the critters,
but we have some left over.
These little round
things are called bryozoans.
And so, this will probably
go into an organic garden.
Oh, nice.
This will be
good used as fertilizer,
or potentially
bio-fuels or other things.
My friends in
Alaska at Seagrove Farm
Yeah, yeah.
Um
I kind of want to
find something for them
where they can use
some of their kelp,
not just culinary
but for other applications.
So, pieces like this
that aren't food quality,
this is going to a, like,
traditional land farm?
We're working
with the farmers that will be taking the kelp,
and this is great stuff for,
for making organic soils better.
So, you think in
traditional agriculture,
there's a use,
there's a market for this?
Absolutely.
I think
there is, yes, absolutely.
People are figuring
out new uses all the time.
With any style of
farming, it's really important to get as
much out of one
crop as you can.
Correct.
This trip
was a two for one.
I figured out a
second crop for Seagrove to diversify their farm,
and learned about a
non-culinary use for their kelp.
Thank you so much
for having me.
You are so welcome.
This has been so helpful.
I can't wait to head
back to Alaska with all of this new information,
but I have one more stop
in Washington State to make
before I can head back north.
Joth connected me
with his colleague,
Doctor Eli Wheat, an
environmental studies professor
who runs a 20 acre organic
farm on South Whidbey Island.
Doctor Wheat is
experimenting with applications
of kelp in traditional
agriculture settings.
So, this is the farm?
This is the farm, yes.
Joth said you were
here to see some kelp.
I would love to
see your kelp in action.
Eli's farm is an integrated
vegetable and animal farm,
that uses an
ecosystem based approach,
and focuses on
regenerative agriculture.
So, I'm curious to
find out exactly how he is using the kelp.
Land and sea farms
uniting in perfect harmony.
Now, that's exciting.
And this, uh, is the kelp.
Wow!
I brought the kelp here
about a week and a half ago.
Oh, okay.
Um
And it's been
setting here to dry.
Well, you can smell it.
It smells a little
bit like the ocean, yeah?
Oh, it does, it does!
Oh, this is awesome!
It's, it's really
I just love it there's
It's just
so cool, just like a
Like kelp in
the middle of a farm right now.
Yeah. Yeah.
What we see is that
when we put the kelp down,
the grass just starts
to grow so much better.
It's kinda of phenomenal.
Wow!
This was 2100 pounds,
so that's about a ton.
This is what a ton
of kelp looks like.
How much area
are you applying the kelp to?
Maybe half an acre,
more or less.
So a ton per half acre?
You really couldn't
get enough kelp on a farm.
You couldn't
get enough kelp.
But one of the big
questions is, like,
how can we extend them,
the benefit of kelp?
Is there some way to, like,
super dry it and make
something like a kelp pellet, right,
that you can just
spread across your fields?
Right!
Almost like even mulch with it.
Absolutely.
And so, these are the
questions that we're currently exploring
on this farm so that we
can pull nutrients out of
the nearshore system where
it's causing a lot pollution,
and bring those nutrients
and this carbon up here into
the grasslands where it's
gonna stimulate production.
The idea is that
this kelp is drawing carbon
out of the ocean.
It's the craziest thing
Yeah, yeah.
I just love it.
Some carbon dioxide
that ends up in the atmosphere
is absorbed by the oceans.
And as Doctor
Joth Davis mentioned,
excess carbon causes the
sea water to have increased acidity.
Kelp in the ocean,
much like plants on land,
draw carbon dioxide in and
take it out of their surroundings.
But as Eli points out,
when that kelp is
transferred to land,
the soil stores the
carbon and can benefit
from the seaweed's nutrients.
In the ocean, nitrogen
and carbon are an issue.
And so, then the
kelp takes it up,
like a little vehicle, and
then you just take it here and
put it in the soil.
Wow!
We're benefiting
the marine system, and then
we can start to
benefit the terrestrial system.
That, that's
honestly so freaking cool.
I think it's super
exciting the thing about
how this could be a piece of
what we do to address some of
the big challenges
with climate change.
Yeah.
Eli is one of those people
with contagious enthusiasm.
Really passionate
about the work,
but also cares
about the environment.
But what I also love about
this is, like, it didn't come in
any kind of packaging
and you sourced it locally.
So, this is stored carbon,
and we can take
this stored carbon,
put it out on
grassland or pastures,
and those grasslands
can sequester more carbon,
putting it down in
the soil and storing it.
You know, I
grew up around of lot of traditional agricultural farms,
and so bringing
something like this,
something that's
exciting into the market,
something that's new,
as a farmer, it's, like,
we're spending money
to get carbon rich materials,
and here it is just
hanging out in the ocean.
And you're putting
it into your soil,
and then you're growing
some really nice grass,
but then what are you
doing with that grass?
Grass. It does
require some grazers.
So, we should go look
at some of the pastures.
Oh! Oh yeah?
Should we go check them out?
Wow, bye seaweed.
If Eli needs a ton of kelp
just to fertilize half an acre,
I'm sure he could use
another supplier like Seagrove.
Bulk agricultural sales
like this could wildly expand
Seagrove's kelp markets.
So, I'm excited to see
the impact of this kelp on the soil in the pasture,
and I cannot wait to see
who is reaping the benefits.
Let's go
meet the grazers.
Oh, no! What!
Hey goats.
.
Oh my gosh. Babies!
What's this one's name?
Mugwort.
I love that.
So, you're
incorporating seaweed into this field where they graze?
Yeah, we
have been adding kelp.
What we wanna do is
change the form of carbon,
and we wanna put it
some place where it can stay for a long time.
And it turns out.
Soils that aren't
being tilled are really good
stable storage
location for carbon.
It's like
taking a poison and
finding a good
place to hide it away.
Right.
And it's having this
added in bonus of helping, like,
produce more food, right?
Right.
Tell me again how you're
getting the seaweed into this area.
We've literally got a
dump truck load of seaweed,
and we spread it
out on the soil.
Where the seaweed was,
the grass is like dark,
and green, and lush.
What!
So, you can actually see
the difference in the soil
where you've
added seaweed?
Everything
about the grass is, like, healthier, bigger, stronger.
So, we're like, well,
it's so obvious.
It's amazing
how this all works.
The goats, the soil
the farm, and the environment
are all reaping
the benefits of kelp.
You could use
more seaweed, right?
I could
always use more seaweed.
Well, that's amazing,
because I have these friends
at Seagrove Farm in Alaska,
so if you could use
seaweed year round.
Oh wow! For sure.
And they could
always use someone to sell their seaweed to.
I think
there's no limit, you know?
There's a lot of
farms like this right here in,
in Western Washington, so.
Right.
I wanna help contribute to
that mission of, of farming in
a way that's incredible for
the soil, great for the planet,
and then you're also
feeding your community.
Mm-hmm.
So, I think I'm gonna
go get you some more seaweed.
Oh, heck yeah.
Yeah.
.
And Mugwort,
catch you next time, buddy.
I'm floored by
Eli's discoveries,
and of the seemingly
endless possibilities
that kelp has to offer.
Now I'm excited to
get back to Seagrove and
share all that I've learned.
I'm so glad
you could come.
I'm so glad that I
could come and see all of this.
Mark has a lot of
work to do to get this company a financial boost but
I have a few surprises
that I think will help Seagrove.
One of my gifts
requires a big boat,
so I hitched a ride to the
kelp farm with Mark's friend,
Captain Vaughn.
He's a local
commercial fisherman who helms the Anna Lyn.
So, that's them.
We're pretty close, yeah?
That, that
is the Glacier Breeze.
Shall we call him?
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mark is out with the
team harvesting kelp.
We're supposed to meet up,
but he doesn't know I'm arriving
aboard his friends boat.
This is the Anna
Lyn. This is Anna Lyn calling
VAUGHN
Glacier Breeze. Channel 16, over.
Anna Lyn,
Glacier Breeze.
I have a
surprise for you.
MARK
Yeah, I was wondering. I didn't expect you out here.
What's going on?
Mark.
Yes?
This is Indy.
Indy!
What's
going on, Indy?
Hi.
I'm back, baby.
INDAY
Can't wait to see you
I've got something
really awesome to show you.
All right, all right.
MARK
Yeah, come along port side.
Farm Rescue on a boat ♪
I'm just so
excited that I'm getting to surprise Mark in this way.
Hi!
It's incredible.
Hi.
Indy!
Hey.
Welcome back.
Yes, and I
didn't come back alone.
Joth, is that you?
Hey!
What are
you doing here?
Doctor Joth Davis
agreed to come with me
all the way back to Alaska.
Joth is an
aquatic farming legend, so,
of course Mark
recognized him right away.
Well, welcome
to Doyle Bay, Joth.
I'm thrilled
to be here, Mark.
What's going on?
We're gonna
work on some oysters.
That is awesome!
Yeah!
I mean, you
should jump aboard.
We've got a bunch
to show you.
Joth convinced me that
cultivating oysters would be
the best way to help
diversify Seagrove's kelp farm,
and create more
year round work.
I mean, I explained the
farm to Joth, and he was, like,
"Perfect, could totally
be growing oysters there,"
so I'm excited to put
all this stuff to use and
throw it in the water,
and see what we can grow.
We're gonna drop
in a mooring of an anchor,
stretch out a long lines, about
200 feet of long line space.
And then, once that's set,
we'll go about putting some oyster,
small oyster
seeds into some cages,
and see how we can help you
grow oysters the very best you can.
Wow!
That is really cool.
Let's do it.
I would say we wanna
run the mooring in line with
your prevailing storm wind.
So we could
probably set one out here, and,
and run that way.
Yeah. Yeah.
Easy squeezy.
Joth is great.
I mean, he's such a wealth
of information and experience,
and to have that
resource available to us,
it has to make us better.
Woo-hoo.
We've set up new
anchors and buoy lines within
the parameter of the farm,
right next to the kelp.
Boop.
There we are.
Bye Buoy.
Okay.
Okay, we're on bottom.
We're on bottom.
Hey, great job!
That was awesome.
We got a strong line.
Ready to roll.
Now all that's left is to
bring out the stars of the show.
Oh wow, those are awesome.
Here we are.
Oh, cool.
Oh Mark,
look at these guys.
We brought you some
nice looking oyster seeds.
Babies.
Yeah.
Man!
Well, what kind
of oysters do we have?
These are
a Pacific Oysters,
pretty much the
staple oyster that's used all over the Pacific coast.
And it's a good species
for Alaska because it'll grow reasonably quickly,
even in the
cooler waters up here.
Well that's awesome.
So, kelps has gotten a lot of
attention lately as being a hero
for climate change, but
oysters are also an everyday hero.
They're phenomenal at
filtering out water to remove
excess nutrients, impurities,
they can filter gallons of water
through themselves
in a day, one oyster.
Wait, so, how
old are these little guys?
These are
probably six months to a year.
Look at that one.
That is so cute.
Much like kelp, farmed
shellfish are also often bred
and grown initially in
a nursery or hatchery.
Oysters, as Joth mentioned,
are a low impact,
low maintenance
miracle to your crop,
and generally
feed on phytoplankton, also known as micro algae,
which already
exists in seawaters.
Eventually, these are
gonna become half shell oysters,
perfect for serving
shucked on the half shell.
Oysters are high in
protein and rich in vitamins.
You can buy oysters
cultivated at a farm,
or harvested in the wild.
Farmed oysters grow more
quickly than those in the wild,
and their size and
shape is more consistent.
You wanna have about
50 oysters per square foot
of growing space.
We're, like, holding
your future farm right here.
This is so exciting.
I'm just, I'm, I'm thrilled.
Now we
get the fun stuff.
Joth is
giving Seagrove a leg up,
offering expert
advice on farming oysters
alongside kelp in
the Alaskan climate,
so Mark and his team
have the best chances of success in the oyster test run.
This is the first
seeding of oysters in Doyle Bay.
Like, two
thirds of a cup.
That is so cool.
You know, how often should
we come back to these and?
I would check, I would
check these every, if you can,
check 'em out
every week or so.
All right.
And what should we
be looking for when we're checking?
You wanna look to
see if there's a really,
really feathery growth edge
around the oyster itself.
Okay.
You wanna see that
they're actually starting to
grow a little bit, putting
on a little bit of shell.
It's amazing working
with Tiff and Mark to help make
their dream a reality, I have
so much respect for how well
they collaborate as a team.
So, these guys are happy.
We can throw
them in the ocean?
Yeah, we're ready
to throw these in the ocean.
Indy, you gonna help me?
Yeah, of course.
Let her rip.
Ah-ha!
Oysters in the water.
It's amazing.
Our first oysters, I love it.
First oysters
are over the side.
I love it.
I'm so excited
that I get to be a part of
this stage of Seagrove farm.
Putting in the first oyster felt
like planting the first seed.
And as Joth mentioned,
farming these oysters near the kelp
could really help
the shellfish to thrive.
How long are those
babies gonna take to grow?
They will start
growing within a week,
and you will probably have a
good sized oyster for markets in
at least two years,
something like that.
Mm-hmm. Okay.
Yeah.
Maybe a little longer.
Just depends.
I mean, one of the big things
we need to know about this site
is actually how well
the oysters grow, right?
Yeah.
This is so exciting to
see what it means for your farm.
Yeah!
To
To have this as an addition.
Shellfish
and seaweed together,
hopefully they'll
grow better with each other around themselves.
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Plus, now you got a
whole other income stream, right?
Being able to grow oysters on
the same footprint as seaweed is
a really great way to really,
really increase your margins.
Speaking of
increasing their margins,
I've got even more
in store for Seagrove.
So, weren't you guys
harvesting kelp when I first showed up?
Yeah, we were
just getting into it.
Shall we get back to it?
Joth put Seagrove on the
right path to diversify their crops
and extend the
farming season.
But they still need to make
more money off their kelp,
and for that, they need to find
more partnerships with clients
who want to use kelp
for non-culinary products.
All right.
A little sample of
what we're harvesting out there.
Here, let's open this up.
Here, give me it here.
I'll help you out.
Oh yeah, thanks.
So, what do you say
could I, could I grab about 4,000 pounds of this?
I'm serious, because
Really?
Yeah.
Joth actually introduced
me to his friend, Eli,
who has this, you know,
traditional farm on land,
and Joth sells his kelp
to him to use as fertilizer.
Okay.
But your
seasons are kind of awesome,
because they
line up back to back.
So, once Joth kelp
season ends, yours begins.
Awesome!
So once Joth
isn't able to sell his kelp to the farm anymore,
that's when you
guys could pick up.
Well, that,
that sounds wonderful.
Thank you so much.
Yeah.
Excellent.
I think that this could
be a great resource for you.
Yeah, it'd be great.
And I'd love to see
how our sugar kelp helps.
Sweet.
Thank you so much, Joth.
Oh, my pleasure.
I know you
weren't planning on coming up to Alaska but
I, I loved it. I loved it!
I really wanna stay in
touch with the project,
so keep me in the loop.
Yeah, will do.
Yeah.
Mark and his
team are devoted to Alaska,
and believe their
kelp business will help both
the local community
and the environment.
They've taken the first step
in diversifying their crops,
but it'll take time before
we know if the oysters will
flourish at their Alaskan site.
Thank you very much.
Thank you and thank you.
Yes, of
course! Of course.
They've also been connected
with a non-culinary collaborator
in Doctor Eli Wheat, but
they'll need to pursue even more
partnerships once I'm gone to
continue to grow their business.
I can't wait to see the
progress Seagroves makes
in a couple of months.
As Mark would say, I've done
what I can to kelp them out.
The rest is up to them.
It's been a
little over a month since
I was up north in Alaska.
I'm anxious to
see Mark and Tiff,
and see how things are going
at Seagrove, and the kelp farm.
Hey.
Hey Indy!
How are you?
Can I jump on?
Yeah, welcome aboard.
Oh, yeah.
I left them with
a second crop, oysters.
Oysters in the water.
And a new potential
partnership to help diversify
their products, in
which their kelp is used.
I just hope it was
enough to keep Mark and
Seagrove on course.
We're just
finishing up harvest this week.
That's awesome.
I know!
There's so much
kelp in the water,
we're about two or
three weeks behind where we thought we would be,
so it's a good
problem to have, really.
Yeah. Yeah.
Some of
these fronds, they're like ten, 15 feet in length,
which is almost
the double the size
we've seen in previous years.
Seagrove has a
massive supply to unload.
I bet Doctor Eli Wheat
will be thrilled to receive
this abundance of
kelp for the farm pasture.
So, who are the folks that are
harvesting the seaweed here?
The harvesting crew
is led by two brothers,
and they're actually growing
the kelp and then selling it.
Wow.
So, it's part
of the relationship,
so rather than just
earning a wage, you know,
like this year, we
had a great crop and
they get to benefit from it.
They're able to
actually profit personally from
the work that they're doing?
I love that model.
This provides a
completely new opportunity,
primarily for salmon
fishermen, to diversify what they're doing.
All of these fishing boats
would otherwise be sitting at the dock
and not working
if it weren't for the opportunity that this presents.
As Mark
mentioned in my last visit,
Alaska is home to many
fishermen and women who
often rely on seasonal work.
With the kelp farm,
they have more potential employment opportunities.
Seeing them
hiring more people and
reaching out to
the local community,
and other individuals
who have different ideas,
and bringing in
that level of ingenuity
is what makes a farm a
vibrant place of work.
It has been such a
pleasure to have Indy come here
and see what we're doing,
and as importantly why we're doing it.
We want everybody
to be vested in,
and want it to be successful,
and I hope it's a model
that will go beyond just us.
Yeah.
All right, let's
go see those oysters.
Hey, I'm excited.
See you soon.
In addition to
the ever growing harvest,
the oyster test run is key to
ensuring more year round jobs
for the local fishermen.
Oh wow, easy.
All right.
Which one?
Oh, that's a good one.
Yeah.
All right,
let's go take a look.
I really hope
they've thrived in the icy Alaskan waters of Doyle Bay.
Let's see how we did.
You ready?
I'm ready.
Yeah! Oh my gosh!
Yeah, these are
huge compared to before.
Mm-hmm.
Look at them!
I know, and
they're all frilly!
Getting a nice cup
forming on those too.
I mean, all
of that right there,
that's all new growth
since we put 'em in.
What I'm most
struck by is the size
that the oysters have reached.
After less than two months
seeing that they've grown
exponentially makes me
excited for the future of Seagrove.
Oh man, so they're
happy here.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, you
guys are doing it.
Mm-hmm.
We're starting,
and it's a great start.
They've
taken oysters on as their new project and run with it.
Oh, nice.
Until next time, oysters.
Next year,
there'll be hundreds of rows of oyster trays,
just like that, out there with
millions of oysters in there.
Imagine that vision.
That's the dream,
that's the dream.
Indy bringing Joth up to
Alaska has been instrumental in
getting us started
with our oyster journey.
And so, we're excited
about including oysters in what
we're doing so we can have
year round work available for people
that are employed with us.
If all goes to plan,
they'll seed the
farm every year,
and since oysters
grow at different rates,
they'll harvest them
as they become mature.
That harvest was insane.
It's a good
year for sugar kelp.
Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Optimistic for
what they might be able to produce in the future.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
And then, have you
found other ways to
bring your
seaweed to the market?
Yeah, we've actually,
we've been working with a lot of
product developers on their
products that they wanna sell.
Like what?
Well
Well, so we've got
some examples to show you.
Show and tell time.
So a woman who
grew up as a fisherman in Cordova, Alaska,
she used our
ribbon kelp to come up with
a number of these
really cool skincare products.
So cool! What!
Yeah, really cool.
This is awesome.
I'm so glad that you
guys have been able to do this.
You have so much seaweed.
Getting it out
into products like this,
this is exactly
what I imagined.
There's so many cool
concepts that are coming out of
the seaweed world right now,
not just this but bio plastics,
and a whole host of
different products that
they're making out of
seaweed because it's so versatile.
Like Doctor Eli Wheat down
at the University of Washington
using it for fertilizer
in their organic beds.
It's a no brainer, yeah.
Seaweed belongs
in our world.
There's a community of
support that's building across Alaska,
where we're all learning from
each other and we're all helping
each other grow,
because everyone needs to be successful to,
to make this thing happen.
Thank you
both for, honestly,
for converting me
into a kelp nerd.
And also seeing how
you're not only creating all of these incredible products,
but also putting
local folks to work.
And Indy, really,
thank you for coming up and
bringing a, this
new opportunity.
It's really, it's
really been a special time and we really appreciate it.
Mark has a lot of
passion about the work he does.
He cares deeply
about this community,
and I think that's so
much of that stems from
his upbringing here in Alaska.
This is the future of farming,
and it's doing it
in a way that's sustainable,
and that employs
local people and
makes growing
food exciting again.
I think that farming is fun.
Mark and Tiff are extremely
knowledgeable about kelp.
Thank you, come,
come back next year,
we'll have
oyster feed right here.
Thank you.
Sounds so good.
And Mark is always
the optimist.
But more importantly,
they have dedication to
their farm to the environment,
and to the people
with whom they live and work,
it's a commitment I
admire in any farmer working
the land or the sea.
Captioned by
Cotter Media Group.