- Kelp is highly nutritious.

(gentle music) It has 14 different vitamins.

Some species has 10 times more calcium than milk, and it makes a good base for a lot of things that you should be eating.

What we're hoping with this ocean farming industry is that we'll be able to help indigenous peoples change their relationship with the sea and their food sources that they traditionally have harvested for thousands of years.

We have 10 test lines out in Prince William Sound in different spots to see what will grow where.

- Alright, that's good.

I'll just pull it up here.

It's farming, but instead of having to add fertilizer, you're pulling things outta the ocean.

It's regenerative.

- This stuff really is the best we've ever grown.

- In order to grow this kelp, you have to go and source your seed.

So, we actually had to dive down and take the kelp, and that mother seed is the seed that you need to start your kelp farm.

Then once you deploy it, you gotta figure out how to monitor it over the course of the winter.

All right, good.

Then you harvest in the spring, then you process it and get it into a shelf stable state, whether it's frozen or blanched or dehydrated.

Once you figure out the process and what works and what doesn't work, then it gets a little easier and you get a little better.

You get a little bolder, you grow more kelp.

- Root is big.

- Yummy.

- Yeah.

- Bull kelp is beautiful.

Some of those wild bull kelp bubbles can get like this big, right?

And those whips can be 15 feet long, if not longer, right?

- We gotta cheers.

- Yay.

- Ooh.

All of the things that are edible in Alaska, have been eaten by native Alaskans for a long time and we have perfected the way it is processed and preserved, and then integrated back into our diet.

- There's about 250 or more food products that you can make out of kelp, but a lot of people don't know how to prepare it and eat it.

And the native people have been harvesting kelp for thousands of years, frying it, drying it, fermenting it.

And, so, with this kelp, we add it like we did a traditional fish burger.

- The kelp cakes are made out of celery, kelp, onion.

We basically grind the ingredients in a blender, and it makes this green mush right here.

And we add crab.

- There you go.

You want a little bit more?

- Yeah.

And save a little bit for the sprinkles on top.

- Since we didn't have ovens, what we actually would do is take a layer of kelp, layer of berries, layer of kelp, some smelt or hooligan, and then another layer of kelp, and they would cold press it and then dry it.

And if you're gonna go on any long journeys, you just throw one of those bricks of kelp in your bag and go.

And this was probably one of America's first energy bars, at least for Alaska.

And it's loaded with omegas.

Make 'em a little bit smaller, they're easier to fry.

(food sizzling) We have several adaptations to the native Eyak's kelp cake.

We wanted to be able to show people how to make something fairly quickly that was not very expensive, but tasted delicious.

We grew up on 'em.

It was one of the quickest, fastest way to feed seven little Indians.

Is this all we got?

(both chuckle) (silverware clinks) - Mm.

That's Marina's pickled bull kelp.

- Oh, yum.

- It's good.

It's like sweet and salty and crunchy.

- Hmm.

I love the flavor of those kelp cakes.

- Me too.

- Me too.

They're super good.

- They're delish.

- I feel that ocean farming can help communities across the planet.

This is who we are.

This ocean is what's kept us alive, and we've fed millions of people around the world.

And, so, I'm hoping that people in America will have the courage to try kelp and figure out how to eat it.

Because it's not only delicious, it's also really healthy for you.

I believe we can work together and figure out how to restore the ocean.

We're just gonna have to work a little harder and a little smarter.