Farm Leather LLC — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.119999999999999

Description

This project will develop the methodology and technological design necessary for kelp farmers to"plant" seed directly into the longlines of their ocean-based farms. This practice is likely to offer anexpected cost savings of 60% over the current status quo of specialized hatcheries collecting wild"parent" kelp plants extracting their seed for settlement onto thin seedstring in a hatchery settingand then attaching that seedstring full of small plants (aka sporophytes) onto a farm's longlines. Theobjectives of this project are to 1) isolate and maintain gametophyte cultures (i.e.a solution of pre- sexual reproductive cells) ready to be combined into a fertile sporophyte culture; 2) Develop andtest a binding solution and process for attaching the sporophyte culture directly to a farm'slonglines; 3) Design a prototype for mechanically applying the culture and binder; and 4) Authoringa technological and economic analysis of the commercial viability of direct seeding and comparingcosts to the traditional hatchery-centric model. The prototype design will be the basis for an SBIRPhase II project. Should these projects be successful the commercial benefits will be immediatewith Blue Evolution's Alaska kelp farmers transitioning into a direct seeding model and creatingexpected savings for farmers and Blue Evolution as both a hatchery operator and purchaser ofcultivated kelp.