JUNEAU (KINY) – Governor Mike Dunleavy has introduced a bill to allow finfish farming in the state.
Alaska law currently prohibits finfish farming except for private nonprofit salmon hatcheries.
HB 111 would allow the Commissioner of the Department of Fish and Game, with the assistance of the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation, to permit the cultivation and sale of certain finish in inland, closed system bodies of water.
Salmon farming would remain prohibited, and farmed fish would be required to be sterile.
“This legislation is a continuation of my administration’s efforts to grow Alaska’s food security by creating a new fish farming industry,” Dunleavy said. “Alaska can join other regions of the world by raising fish that can be sold and consumed here in Alaska and be available for export. This legislation will yield new jobs, economic growth, and a new food source for all Alaskans.”
According to a press release from the governor’s office, the legislation requires all finfish raised with a finfish farm permit be sterilized triploids which are unable to reproduce.
The bill prohibits cultivating pink, chum, sockeye, coho, chinook and Atlantic salmon, requires finfish farms to be enclosed within a natural or artificial escape proof barrier, and allows stocking a lake on private property with finfish for personal consumption without a permit if the lake is enclosed with a natural or artificial escape-proof barrier.
According to the USDA Aquaculture Census, in 2023, food fish aquaculture sales amounted to $819.6 million nationwide.
