"Alaska Mariculture Initiative"

“Everything is so unknown,” said Meta Mesdag, the owner of Salty Lady Seafood Co.

There was an uptick in paralytic shellfish poisoning this summer. But scientists think the future of oyster farming in Alaska still looks bright.

Alaska’s mariculture industry is in its infancy, compared with other regions of the world, but it has the potential to be much larger — maybe worth as much as $1 billion within three decades.