Alexandra Talty

Beijing

Ocean reporter investigating the sea, climate + food // 3rd generation surfer and lifeguard training for a 10k swim // formerly @PulitzerCenter @UMWallaceHouse

Articles

Why it's too soon to write off seaweed

3 weeks ago | thefishsite.com | Alexandra Talty

An accelerator and investment firm focused on the ocean, Katapult Ocean is one of the leaders in private investment into aquaculture, with 80 investments into the ocean space, including 10 to 15 in aquaculture specifically. Bellafiore, who focuses on the fund’s early-stage investments, explains their outlook. Katapult’s seaweed investments include some of the biggest names in seaweed, like Ocean Rainforest, Carbonwave and Algaeing. Which seaweed investments are exciting right now?
Thoughts from Briana Warner: Atlantic Seafarms' former CEO

1 month ago | thefishsite.com | Alexandra Talty

In January Atlantic Sea Farms, the largest farmed seaweed company in the United States, announced it had raised $3.8 million, from investors including True Wealth Ventures, Third Nature Investors and Builders Bridge. Warner - CEO for seven years, who has now been replaced by Mikel Durham - answered the following questions. How did you manage to raise so much for ASF at a time that industry experts are referring to as “the seaweed winter”?
From the NBA to South Bay

2 months ago | thefishsite.com | Alexandra Talty

Standing tall in her insulated camouflage waders, Sue Wicks motors for 20 minutes across steel-blue water in her Pickerel clamming boat. During the winter, this is Wicks’ weekly commute to check her kelp lines on Long Island’s Great South Bay. There’s likely to only be an inch of growth, but Wicks checks in on her crop at least every week until it is time to harvest in the spring.
The hatcheries that are helping oysters pass the acid test

2 months ago | thefishsite.com | Alexandra Talty

Enjoyed at raw bars across the world with a squeeze of lemon, nearly every farmed oyster starts its journey the same way: in a hatchery.
Maine’s triple low trophic aquaculture dynasty

Jan 7, 2025 | thefishsite.com | Alexandra Talty

Operating off a commercial dock in downtown Portland, Maine, Bangs Island Mussels boats are a familiar sight in the New England harbour city. Harvesting mussels year-round and kelp in the wintertime, the family-run company just announced they are branching into yet another income stream: oysters. “We are now stewarding Chebeague Island Oysters and getting our hands dirty with another impressive bivalve,” announced Bangs Island Mussels on their Instagram this November.
The Future of Seaweed Farming in America

Sep 5, 2024 | civileats.bluelena.io | Alexandra Talty |Jake Price

Our independent, investigative journalism about the U.S. food system is supported by members and donors like you. We are thrilled to announce that, to honor our 15th anniversary, two generous funders—the 11th Hour Project, a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation, and GRACE Communications Foundation—have provided us funding to help us remove our paywall for one year!Our reporting will be free to everyone, everywhere. But we will still need your support.
Will Seaweed Farming Fulfill its Potential as a Climate Change Solution?

Sep 4, 2024 | civileats.com | Alexandra Talty

About 5 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, a vast swath of giant kelp—Macrocystis pyriferia, which can grow nearly 3 feet per day—sways just below the surface of one of the world’s first open-ocean seaweed farms. Still in its research phase, the 86-acre project is operated by Ocean Rainforest, a company that aims to fight climate change by growing seaweed at scale: 1 million tons a year by 2030.
The Hard Work of Bringing Kelp to Market

Jul 31, 2024 | civileats.bluelena.io | Alexandra Talty |Nicole J. Caruth |Lisa Elaine Held

Read Up On Our In-Depth Series and Investigations Chemical Capture: The Power and Impact of the Pesticide IndustryIn this investigative series, we examine whether consolidated corporate power may be contributing to the ubiquitous use of pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals, and whether the influence that chemical companies wield in the halls of power makes it difficult to sort facts from marketing or engage in rigorous cost-benefitanalyses.
Bringing Kelp Farms Into the Blue Economy: Building Infrastructure, Step by Step

Jul 30, 2024 | civileats.com | Alexandra Talty

It was nearly sunset on a breezy May afternoon when Scott Lord and his wife Sheena pulled into Port Clyde, Maine, on the Eva Marie. The hull sat low in the water, weighed down by 2,500 pounds of sugar kelp. The Lords had been out on the water since 5 a.m.“Anything you do on a boat is a long day,” said Scott. Especially if you’re a kelp farmer, trying to make the most of a short, 12-week season. That day, they’d been out to their four-acre farm and back twice, harvesting a total of 6,300 pounds.
Rescuing Kelp Through Science

Jul 18, 2024 | savingseafood.org | Alexandra Talty

July 18, 2024 — Just off the shore in Casco Bay, Maine, marine scientist Scott Lindell descends into an underwater kelp forest, his ears filling with frigid water as he swims down to the seafloor. Lindell’s mission: to find sugar kelp, a golden-brown, frilly-edged seaweed—and, more specifically, sugar kelp in its reproductive phase. Peering through his mask in the swirling, murky water, Lindell can only see a few feet, so it’s not an easy task.