Join us on March 19th, 2:00pm at the Aspen Hotel and on Zoom*
*

Lindsay Olsen is the co-owner and operator of Spinnaker Sea Farms, a 2-acre kelp and oyster farm in Jakolof Bay. She was born and raised in Homer, spending summers working on the back deck of her dad's Cook Inlet drift boat, and the off season helping on the family's oyster farm. In 2019, Lindsay and her wife Leah bought the family's oyster farm and began cultivating seaweed in 2020.

 

Lindsay also works as the Director of Training & Support for GreenWave, a bi-coastal nonprofit that supports the growth of the burgeoning domestic seaweed industry. She holds a master's degree from the Yale School of the Environment, where she was awarded a Switzer Fellowship for environmental leadership. 

 

In this presentation Lindsay will introduce what ocean farm-grown kelp is and why you should care about it. She will describe the growing domestic seaweed industry in the US, how kelp is cultivated, where it is sold, and current market demand for seaweed products. In particular she will focus on current farming operations across Alaska and in Kachemak Bay, and opportunities for growth within the industry in Alaska. Lastly, she will show images of kelp growing on her farm in Jakolof Bay, and describe efforts by Homer-local farmers and businesses to put K-Bay kelp on the map.