We are committed to operating the Port Armstrong Hatchery sustainably, contributing to Southeast Alaska’s fisheries while innovating fish culture techniques to enhance hatchery salmon production and support local economies.
Centered on Alaska’s renowned sustainable salmon runs, where in the 1970s, a collaborative effort between the State of Alaska, coastal communities, and fishermen led to the creation of an innovative aquaculture program. AKI emerged as part of this movement, establishing the Port Armstrong Hatchery on the remote southern end of Baranof Island in Southeast Alaska.
The hatchery annually collects eggs from pink, chum, and coho salmon, raising them in freshwater incubators, raceway ponds, and saltwater net pens before releasing them into the ocean. As adults, these salmon return to their birth streams, passing through fishing grounds before the hatchery conducts egg takes and cost recovery harvests from returning adults, starting in July and ending in October.
The hatchery staff, led by Manager Ben Contag, lives onsite amongst friends and family, forming a close-knit community of about eighteen people surrounded by a diverse landscape of steep hillsides, dense forests, lakes, open muskegs, and high mountains. Administrative staff and the AKI board of directors provide integral support and organization management from afar.
Life at Port Armstrong Hatchery
Connect with AKI
Join us in our mission to support sustainable fisheries and vibrant communities in Southeast Alaska—contact us or consider donating to Armstrong-Keta, Inc. (AKI) today.