The Future is Blue at AltaSea

Ushering in a blue economy with the U.S.’s only offshore aquaculture farm

By Seth Meyer, Contributor

SAN PEDRO — It was  “oohs” and “aahs” at AltaSea’s open house on April 29, after a new vessel was introduced promising the best seafood in town. It was attended by area high school students, the staffs of AltaSea and Pacific6, a relatively new partner of AltaSea that owns the vessel. 

Company founder John Molina, formerly of Molina Healthcare, took over the recently bankrupt Catalina Sea Ranch, an offshore aquaculture company, in hopes of finding his own success in sustainable aquaculture. One step in the right direction was the hiring of Captain Nick Hajec, a veteran in the industry from New Zealand with the experience needed to bring these farms to the United States. 

Molina and Hajec, the keynote speakers for the open house, said they needed a vessel that could handle the production of 66 tons of mussels per week. Mussels are typically benthic, or bottom-dwelling, filter feeders, and require a lot of equipment to bring out to the open water and suspend them for optimal growth. The new vessel needs to be able to handle the deployment of anchor stakes and withstand the tensioning of the ropes the mussels grow on, harvesting and transporting them regardless of weather conditions. The Pacific Alliance was built and tested for that purpose and it arrived last month at the docks at AltaSea. 

The main goal of this venture is to bring sustainable seafood consumption to the United States using safe, sustainable and scalable methods. Many of the partners at AltaSea’s campus have similar goals. That is one thing they say is the key to success. They currently house the researchers, the builders and the farmers under one roof, where they have the opportunity to collaborate and extend resources towards a common goal. And while all of this is happening, AltaSea is educating the younger generation to see this same goal, experience the steps to achieve it and prepare them for their eventual next steps to solve the planet’s problems. 

The open house offered opportunities to other AltaSea partners to set up booths to promote their mission and recruit attendees to their causes. Some looked to engage, such as the Cal State University Long Beach Shark Lab, which taught about shark skin and teeth. Other booths looked to promote their programs, like WestCal Career Pathway Program, where students can take 16-week sessions learning and experiencing careers to help them decide on careers and prepare them for the requirements. 

Preparing students and the younger generation is a common goal shared by these organizations and AltaSea, but it is also a goal and the reason that Captain Hajec returned to the United States. 

During his comments to the crowd of young people, Captain Hajec said living in New Zealand was a dream come true for him, but that at the end of the day, he wanted generations after his to have the same opportunities he had in his youth. 

 He concluded his remarks by exhorting the young people in the audience to volunteer in everything they possibly can, especially in ship husbandry, noting the skillsets in that occupation will be greatly needed in the future. 

“The more jobs, the more money in the industry, the more need to keep sustainable seafood farms local to the United States. This all leads to safe, sustainable, and scalable seafood for us all to enjoy,” Captain Hajec said. 

The open house also included the unveiling of signage dedicated to the region’s native peoples and their ancestors. Curated by Tina Calderon, a descendant of the Tongva, Chumash and Yoeme peoples, sang a traditional song three times after delivering brief remarks. Although usually sung four times, Calderon left the fourth verse for the three elders that died this year to sing in the spiritual world. 

The commonality of four refers to the directions, east, west, north and south, which symbolize many things like the seasons, elements, sunrise and sunset, and lastly the ancestors. Tina Calderon spoke of the ancestors as not just the elders but the past, the present, and nature. 

Molina, referencing Calderon’s comments, reminded the audience that to get to the “blue” future, we may have to look to the past as AltaSea and their partners look for ways to combat climate change and cultivate sustainable food options.