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Ketchikan: Help for Alaska’s Growing Mariculture Industry Signed Into Law By MARY KAUFFMAN - Alaska’s blue economy took a big step forward yesterday at Trevor Sande’s Hump Island Oyster farm outside Ketchikan, where Governor Bill Walker signed an administrative order and a bill aimed at growing the mariculture industry throughout Alaska.

Walker signed legislation into law Monday to help participants in Alaska’s growing mariculture industry get access to capital. Representative Dan Ortiz (I-Ketchikan) sponsored House Bill 76 after learning that many of the small businesses in Alaska’s mariculture industry were having trouble securing financing for improvement projects through private lending institutions.

HB 76 changes the Alaska Mariculture Revolving Loan Fund to allow up to 40 percent of the fund to be used for loans to help pay for shellfish and seaweed hatcheries or enhancement projects. Expanding the purview of the loan fund to include hatcheries will allow those invested in the mariculture industry to develop a stable supply of seed for resident marine plants and shellfish at no additional cost to the State of Alaska.

“Mariculture is a uniquely well-suited industry for Alaskan investment,” Governor Walker said. “It expands our strong renewable fisheries industry, creates jobs, offers a scalable business model that can thrive from Alaska’s smallest coastal communities to our largest ports, and opens the door to a new knowledge economy that can be a model for the world. From oysters to scallops to sea cucumbers to kelp, I look forward to seeing how Alaskans approach a new industry frontier.”

“Where private banks see too much risk I see too much potential to pass up,” said Rep. Ortiz. “We have a growing mariculture industry in Alaska that is ready to thrive with some much-needed investment, and we have small businesses in the industry that want to expand. A lack of access to capital is holding back those ready to put in the hard work to ensure success. I believe we took a step forward in solving that problem today with House Bill 76 becoming law.” 

The Alaska Mariculture Revolving Loan Fund was created in 2012 with a $5 million investment. The purpose of the fund was to provide loans for the development of Alaskan-owned mariculture operations with a goal of diversifying the economies in many coastal communities. To date, the Alaska Mariculture Revolving Loan Fund has made seven loans totaling $598,000 with no delinquencies or defaults. To better accommodate the time-consuming nature of the mariculture industry and the long lag time from seed to a product that can be sold, HB 76 includes provisions allowing loan repayments to be deferred for up to six years for most loans and up to 11 years for the new hatchery loans authorized by the bill. 

New growers are expected to add to the 35 farms and 6 hatchery/nurseries that already are producing a mix of oysters, clams, mussels and various seaweeds. Eventually, sea cucumbers, scallops, giant geoduck clams and algae for biofuels will be added into the mix.

Data from the state Department of Natural Resources show that two farms have applied at Kodiak totaling nearly 37 acres, and one Sitka applicant has plans for a 15 acre plot.  Other communities getting into the mariculture act include Seldovia, Port Chatham, Juneau, Naukati, Cordova, Ketchikan and Gustavus. 

In 2017, Alaskan farms produced 11,456 pounds of clams, 1,678 pounds of mussels, 16,570 pounds of seaweeds and 1.8 million oysters. - More...
Tuesday PM - August 28, 2018

Alaska: ‘Abrupt thaw’ of permafrost beneath lakes could significantly affect climate change models By JEFF RICHARDSON - Methane released by thawing permafrost from some Arctic lakes could significantly accelerate climate change, according to a new University of Alaska Fairbanks-led study.

The study, which was published Aug. 15 in the journal Nature Communications, focuses on the carbon released by thawing permafrost beneath thermokarst lakes. Such lakes develop when warming soil melts ground ice, causing the surface to collapse and form pools of water. Those pools accelerate permafrost thaw beneath the expanding lakes, providing food for microbes that produce the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane.

Lead author Katey Walter Anthony and her colleagues studied hundreds of thermokarst lakes in Alaska and Siberia during a 12-year period, measuring their growth and how much methane was bubbling to their surface. By combining field work results with remote-sensing data of lake changes during the past two years, they determined the “abrupt thaw” beneath such lakes is likely to release large amounts of permafrost carbon into the atmosphere this century. The lake activity could potentially double the release from terrestrial landscapes by the 2050s.

The effort, conducted by a team of U.S. and German researchers, is part of a 10-year NASA-funded project to better understand climate change effects on the Arctic. Additional support by the National Science Foundation allowed scientists from UAF and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys to collect data on permafrost location, thaw and associated greenhouse gas release from lakes in Interior Alaska’s Goldstream Valley.

The researchers found the release of greenhouse gases beneath thermokarst lakes is relatively rapid, with deep thawing taking place over the course of decades. Permafrost in terrestrial environments generally experiences shallow seasonal thawing over longer time spans. The release of that surface permafrost soil carbon is often offset by an increased growth in vegetation. - More...
Tuesday PM - August 28, 2018

Ketchikan: Waterfall Foundation continues legacy of giving - In 2005, the Waterfall Foundation planted a seed that became the Women’s Diagnostic Imaging Center at Ketchikan Medical Center (KMC). That $25,000 ‘seed’ money helped build a department that provides comprehensive breast examinations for both woman and men.

This year Waterfall again made a significant donation toward expansion of the Diagnostic Center services to include 3D Mammography.

Former Alaska First Lady Nancy Murkowski chairs the Waterfall Foundation. She presented a check for $20,000 to Matt Eisenhower, KMC Foundation Director, at the recent Waterfall Dinner at the Ted Ferry Civic Center. The dinner marks the start of the annual fundraising fishing derby at the Waterfall Resort to support the Waterfall Foundation.

“I am delighted for this gift and continued partnership with Waterfall Foundation,” said Eisenhower. “Having a longtime supporting organization that believes in the mission of healthcare in Southeast Alaska and knows our community needs is very appreciated.” - More...
Tuesday PM - August 28, 2018

Alaska: Division of Elections Found Some Irregularities in East Anchorage District 15 Absentee Ballot Count - The Alaska Division of Elections, in preparing for the 2018 primary election and in its initial review of absentee ballot applications, discovered some irregularities that prompted a second round of review of all absentee ballots from East Anchorage House District 15. This review only involves the application and the ballot envelope. The division reviewed and count the votes today. 

In the Republican primary in that district, just yesterday Republican candidate Aaron Weaver was leading incumbent Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux (R) by just three votes. However today, after the State of Alaska Division of Elections completed the provisional count of all the ballots cast in the House District 15 Republican Primary Election, the incumbent legislator, Gabrielle LeDoux, is reported to be leading Aaron Weaver by 87 votes, excluding the absentee ballots that the division has categorized as suspect. With the suspect absentee ballots included, LeDoux leads Weaver by 113 votes.

The total numbers reported today are as follows: - More...
Tuesday PM - August 28, 2018

TOM PURCELL: School Lunch Bell Signals Another Round in Fight - It's back-to-school for millions of American children, which means it's time to debate the federal government's role in deciding what our kids should eat for lunch.

To understand how the federal government got into the nutrition business, a little history is in order. 

The government got into the school nutrition business during the Depression. FDR saw an opportunity to feed kids while winning the favor of farmers by buying their food with government money. 

In 1946, the Truman administration formalized the feds' school-nutrition role. During both World War I and World War II, after all, the government had noticed some recruits suffered from malnutrition and stunted growth. To address the problem - and win the favor of food producers - the National School Lunch Act was passed into law. 

Though there lots of debate and politics still surround the program, the premise is reasonable enough: For some of America's poorest kids, a hot breakfast or lunch at school may be the only decent food they have all day. 

In response to America's obesity epidemic, first lady Michelle Obama championed good nutrition through the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. It limited fats, sodium and sweets in school lunches, as it reduced portion sizes. 

The Trump administration, which argued that many kids refused to eat the healthier, less-tasty fare, relaxed the school-lunch rules. According to Business Insider, kids are again consuming "sugary chocolate milk, fewer whole grains, and around 300 extra milligrams of salt."

All I know is that I surely wish I could have enjoyed hot, government-subsidized grub at St. Germaine School in the 1970s. But my mother, a master at pinching pennies, packed our lunches every day. - More...
Tuesday PM - August 28, 2018