Essential Tips for New Ocean Farmers

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Location, location, location.

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So wherever you are, that's gonna be your reality, uh, for,

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for the entire time that you're farming.

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So that is the most

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fundamental decision that you're gonna make.

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You have to make sure that you pick a place that

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has optimal access, uh,

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or that has the ability for you to farm through the winter

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that affords the most efficient

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and effective way to farm, if possible.

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If you have those opportunities, you should seek those out.

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You know, maybe shallow water areas, protected areas, areas

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where you can grow oysters on the surface.

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Anything that cuts down your labor time.

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You know, I spent a good year just researching

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where I would want to have the farm.

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But to put your best foot forward, uh, you need to slow down

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and start small and experiment and see what works.

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And when you have a high degree of confidence in that,

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again, then you can move forward.

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Have water access.

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You need to be able to keep a boat somewhere.

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Um, a lot of marinas won't allow a working watercraft.

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I'm lucky here that, uh,

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we have a working waterfront remaining.

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You have to know how to handle a boat, how to be comfortable

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around, uh, marine equipment, the mar environment.

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You need to find a, a lease site. You need to find a site.

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So you need to familiarize yourself with the area

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that you wanna farm.

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And those are the two huge steps right there.

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Having access and zeroing in on a location,

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You know, figuring out what design you're gonna use.

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And once you use the design work, then you need

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to put in the prep time.

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And depending on what your design, like the canary design,

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you need to build your canaries.

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Um, you need to cut and measure your grow lines,

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and you need to try and do as much, as much preparation

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work on, on land as possible.

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Um, and then once, once you're, once you have that,

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then you need to deploy your anchors,

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which is kinda the trickiest part.

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The overall canon area itself is, I mean, a great design

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and it carries the weight evenly to anchors,

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so you don't have to have as much anchors

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and you can use a ton of lines.

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And every farm's different.

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Some people are gonna wanna run two

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and a half foot spacing like we are,

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and some guys are gonna want to run 10 feet

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because they don't want to have to deal with that.

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It all depends on what equipment you have and those things.

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So I think the overall idea

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of the catenary style farm is great

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because it can be changed pretty easily just

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through a mathematic equation to tell you whatever spacing

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or, you know, density you want.

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Maybe start with oyster farming.

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Getting into aquaculture

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through shellfish is a good way to start.

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Not only that, I,

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I do believe in crop diversification and diversifying.

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So another piece of advice I would give,

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if you're growing kelp, think about

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diversifying beyond that.

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What about growing shellfish also,

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or what about growing other seaweed species?

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You need to be creative and innovative and, um, persevere.

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Uh, you have to believe in it.

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It has to be something you really believe in.

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It's, it's not just a job.

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Um, it's really our responsibility.

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It's the sacred duty that we have to

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assist these plants in, in doing their jobs.

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And so not only farming

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and cultivating in a regenerative way,

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but also, um, cultivating the seeds

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and the hatchery has really just been a dedication of love.

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Um, we've taken great care of our seedlings.

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We sing to them, we read them poetry.

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We're reading them, uh, joy Harjo right now.

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And, um, they're really doing amazing.

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We have a kind words program where we invite youth

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and elders to come to our hatchery, um,

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and speak kind words to the seedlings.

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And it's really paid off dividends, not only for the kelp,

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but for our tribal community, our tribal members.

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And, um, it's brought a lot of positivity to,

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to the ecosystem and to our community.

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It's not easy. Um,

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don't think it's gonna be a cakewalk number

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one at this point.

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It's not something you can really rely on

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for a lot of money either.

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So it might be a major misconception at this point

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because there's a lot of news about how big it is

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and how much is coming in and how much is going out.

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And I mean, I can't, I can't rely on it solely

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Keep track of what you put into it.

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Every trip out there, the fuel, the, um, cost

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of the, uh, boat.

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You know, it's not, it's not free

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to keep your boat on a marina.

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Like even for me, we own a marina where I keep my boat,

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but I still have to pay the electricity

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to keep the bubblers on in the winter

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to make sure that like nothing happens.

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So you just have to factor all of that in

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to really understand what your overhead is,

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and then from there, after you've paid yourself,

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which is something that I still am yet to do,

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but then from there you can figure out

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what your real market price for seaweed should be.