Fish Factor

Alaska’s mariculture industry has passed some big milestones, and is getting set to head into the weeds.

Aquatic farming, which was Ok’d by Alaska lawmakers in 1988, topped $1 million in shellfish sales for the first time ever in 2014, coming in at $1.2 million.

“This is the highest sales we’ve had since the inception of the program which is pretty exciting,” said Cynthia Pring-Ham, Director of Mariculture for the state Dept. of Fish and Game, adding that shellfish production increased 27 percent.

That’s an average of $7,049 in sales per acre of active farm, most of which average about five ac...