In partnership, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and the Kurt Grinnell Aquaculture Scholarship Foundation we will hold another Indigenous Aquaculture Summit (“IAS” or” Summit”) on September 15-18, 2025, at the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s 7 Cedars Resort and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribes Administrative Center and Plaza in Blyn, Washington.
The Indigenous Aquaculture Summit is a forum for Indigenous peoples to learn from one another about their aquaculture operations, practices, problems, issues and opportunities and strengthen relationships between Tribes and First Nations . The Summit is an opportunity to reaffirm Tribal and First Nations shared commitment to sustaining and revitalizing traditional aquaculture practices that have nourished communities for generations. The summit also serves to deepen connections through collaboration, learning, and mutual support. Another major goal of the IAS is provide the ingredients for networking, establishing new partnerships, and identifying how Tribes and First Nations are involved in aquaculture and how these practices are or can be tethered to cultural practices and how aquaculture supports economic opportunities, community health, welfare, resilience, seafood security, and, finally Tribal and First Nation sovereignty and self-governance.
The IAS will have three distinct elements, a welcome reception, presentations and discussion and aquaculture operations and research site visits. These field visits are an opportunity to see and learn about viable operating aquaculture operations, innovative research and possible avenues for pursuing commercial level aquaculture.
Sponsorships are crucial to the event, and we welcome support at any level. We wish to recognize last year’s support from NOAA Office of Aquaculture and USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture as well as several companies engaged in aquaculture donated seafood products at the Welcome Reception including Jamestown Seafoods, Hama Hama Oyster Company and Pacific Aquaculture. We received significant monetary donations from companies such as Northwest Resource Law LLC and the Rangen Feed Company (Wilbur Ellis Corporation) as well as individuals which helped defray the costs of the event. We also received substantial support from Builders Initiative, a not-for-profit foundation. We thank all of our sponsors for their contributions and support of our first PNW Indigenous Aquaculture Summit.