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Resolution of support for the USDA Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities Grant application
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SUBMITTED BY: Martha Barberio, Economic Development Director
FISCAL NOTES:
Expenditure Required: N/A
Unencumbered Balance: N/A
Funding Source: N/A
RECOMMENDATION:
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Recommend to City Council to Approve
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SUMMARY STATEMENT:
The Alaska Blue Economy Center (ABEC) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) has convened a team that includes the City of Valdez, University of California (UC) Davis, Blue Evolution, a broad consortium of Alaska Native stakeholders, the Alaska Conservation Foundation, and others to apply for the USDA Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities grant.
This grant application proposes to pilot and scale various seaweed processing technologies and develop markets for these products. UC Davis is the lead investigator and one of USDA's primary grantees. As such, they have the public private partnerships in place to pilot and commercialize products that could be sold into large-scale markets including animal feed, fertilizer, building materials, carbon credits, etc. that would then be primed for the Alaska seaweed industry to sell into as a whole. Similar parallel market development programs will also be created within Alaska in partnership with UAF. The grant also serves as an opportunity to develop the relationship between the University of California and University of Alaska.
While seaweed production will be initially focused in Kodiak, the epicenter for Alaskan seaweed mariculture to date, the grant funds the strategic development of seaweed mariculture in Prince William Sound and positions Valdez as the future hub for this growth. ABEC will work closely with the City of Valdez and community stakeholders to shepherd this process. Technology and knowledge transfer from Kodiak to Valdez are a key component of this work. The grant would fund a new Sea Grant mariculture position, based in Valdez, to serve all o...
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