LETTER: Candidate fighting for future of fishing
Published 11:30 am Saturday, June 27, 2026
Alaska is a special place I get to call home. I’ve fished from Cross Sound to Sitka for nine years and spent the last five of those farming kelp. My office is a wheelhouse in the summer and an open skiff in the winter and spring. It’s a dream life for those with a taste for humble pie. Making a living on the water here is tough, and every year it seems to get tougher.
Mariculture (non-finfish farming) is one of the most exciting opportunities growing in the state. It’s sustainable and has the potential to become an economic powerhouse. We have the world’s richest waters, we lead the world in wild seafood and there’s no reason we can’t lead in mariculture too.
Mary Peltola is running for U.S. Senate and she’s fighting to help fishermen and mariculturists be able to make a living on the water. She’s pushing to ban factory trawling, reduce bycatch, and secure real support for Alaska fishermen. She’s committed to fighting for the federal funding and resources needed to grow our mariculture industry and get Alaska-grown seaweed and shellfish into markets across the country. Mary is a fisherman, she’s been to my kelp farm, handled the lines and tied up the boat when we got back. It’s nice to have a good hand that know’s what they are doing.
Alaska fishing families have always adapted and found ways to thrive. Mariculture is one of the next chapters. We need a senator in Washington who’ll fight to make it happen, and Mary is that person.
Jonny Antoni
