Boosting Blue Economy Entrepreneurs: AFDF Startup Accelerator encourages ocean industry innovation.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa

Coming from a commercial fishing family in Bristol Bay, Sara Erickson believed that fisheries were throwing away a huge resource that could be making money. Namely, the skins left over from seafood processing.

Her solution was to create AlaSkins, a company in Kenai that uses the skins of commercially caught halibut, cod, and salmon to make dog treats. She had reason to think it would work, based on results from an Arctic fisheries development agency.

"The Iceland Ocean Cluster had already shown how to increase export value from using cod skins--now they're making more from that than they're getting from fillets," she says.

Alaska has had its own Ocean Cluster since 2017, started by the nonprofit Bering Sea Fishermen's Association to provide information, referrals, and guidance for fishing industry entrepreneurs.

Erickson says, "That model was exciting to me, and the accelerator fit my line of thinking. We both have a focus on the blue economy." The program directed Erickson to people who could help, including fishing reporter Laine Welch in Kodiak, who wrote an article about what AlaSkins was doing.

"That helped with getting my name known and getting connected to others; it pushed me to make contacts and connections and helped me to promote and push my agenda through Alaska and elsewhere," says Erickson.

AlaSkins dog treats are now sold in fifty stores and to Alaska wholesale customers. "I've been thinking about getting in with larger wholesalers, and the accelerator has been helping me try to find funding and grants," Erickson says. "I was thrilled when I found them, and they've been such a great support ever since."

Alaska Ocean Cluster transferred to the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) in 2022 and rebranded as the AFDF Startup Accelerator. Its current portfolio includes individual entrepreneurs and multi-million-dollar startups working in maritime automation, vessel decarbonization, ocean data, marine transportation, seafood quality, ocean modeling, mariculture, and marine coatings.

AFDF also organizes the annual Alaska Symphony of Seafood, which Erickson entered to compete against other value-added products. "The accelerator has been instrumental in helping me make connections in the seafood industry, including finding processing plants to provide skins," she says. "They also offer moral support; even when I get super discouraged, they tell me that I'm doing great. I can't thank them enough for their total support of what...