Hawaii’s aquaculture industry produced a record $79.7 million in sales last year, fueled in large part by algae farms.

The 2021 sales total represents a 20% increase over the $66.6 million in sales for 2020, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service. The previous aquaculture sales record for Hawaii was $78.4 million in 2019.

The largest share of last year’s sales came from algae, which accounted for $36.7 million, or 46% of the total. Most of those sales are attributed to the microalgae produced by Cyanotech, a Hawaii island operation that focuses on nutritional and health supplements.

Aquaculture is a significant segment of Hawaii agriculture, and algae alone is one of the top agricultural commodities produced in the state, topped only by seed crops, coffee and macadamia nuts.

Other sectors of the industry racking up sales include shellfish, finfish and ornamental fish.

Aquaculture sales overall could increase rapidly in the coming years, said Todd Low, manager for the state Department of Agriculture’s Aquaculture and Livestock Support Services, particularly with new processing facilities to fillet and freeze farmed fish for export.

“I believe we’re going to double (sales) just for food stuff,” Low said. “Processing is what’s really going to unlock everything. Typically our farmers sell things live; that means it’s just local markets. You want to be able to export.”

Hawaii island’s Kohala Mountain Fish farm has a facility to process the tilapia it raises. The longer shelf life of frozen, vacuum-sealed fish makes slower but cheaper shipping options to ports beyond Hawaii profitable.

“My shelf life is two years. If I can vacuum-pack everything, I can ship it anywhere in the world,” said Bob Endreson, management consultant for Kohala Mountain Fish.

Endreson said the farm will soon move to a more spacious location nearby to expand operations. Kohala Mountain Fish also has been able to selectively breed tilapia so that its harvest is mostly faster- growing males, which are larger than females.

The new location will allow the farm to double its current production of 2.5 million to 3 million pounds of fish annually, Endreson said, and along with better processing and fish, production and sales are bound to grow.

There is also untapped potential in Hawaii for regenerative aquaculture, which would be more environmentally friendly but still economically viable. Seaweed and shellfish, which when grown in a marine environment can provide benefits such as removing excess nitrogen and other waste that can enter coastal waters as fertilizer and wastewater, are being considered as possible crops for regenerative aquaculture.

With funding from the state Department of Agriculture, venture capital company Hatch recently published a report on the potential of regenerative aquaculture in Hawaii, where seafood and coastal waters have long played a critical role in the local economy, culture and lifestyle.

The report said tapping into restorative aquaculture would improve Hawaii’s food security, aid in restoring the condition of coastal waters, create jobs and diversify the economy while accessing knowledge from the long tradition of aquaculture on the islands that began with Native Hawaiian fishponds.

The challenges to regenerative aquaculture, the Hatch report said, include finding the right spaces for aquaculture, getting access to capital, high labor costs and poor regulatory infrastructure. There also needs to be more studies done on the economic viability of growing seaweed and shellfish.

Ultimately, the growth of aquaculture in Hawaii will depend on a wide range of stakeholders, from government entities and regulatory agencies to researchers and business owners.

Globally, the demand for seafood is expected to double by 2050 to feed a growing human population, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. With terrestrial ecosystems already strained, the world’s oceans have the most potential to provide the protein that will be needed.

“This has a real potential for growth,” Low said. “And it’s innovation, it’s science. … This is ‘bleeding edge.’ This is the future.”