Assessing the Potential Habitat Provision of Kelp Aquaculture Farms in Alaska

For this project, NOAA researchers will work in direct coordination and collaboration with farmers on Alaska Ocean Farms, a local kelp farm in Kodiak, Alaska.

The objectives of the project are to determine the species composition around the kelp farm throughout the growing period and compare to natural kelp beds in the area. This will be done using three different methods to obtain and cross validate species composition: visual surveys, e-DNA and collection through SMURFS (Standard Monitoring Units for the Recruitment of Fishes).