Sealaska's investment in kelp foods part of its focus on ocean health

Bull kelp is found up and down the Pacific Coast, can grow as long as 100 feet, and is edible in products like salsa and hot sauce. It's also part of the future for Sealaska Corp., which in 2020 bought a stake in a Southeast-grown company, Barnacle Foods, that sells kelp products across the country.

Sealaska Chair Joe Nelson, who is Tlingit, grew up hunting and fishing in Yakutat. He'd harvested seaweed. But not kelp - this was a foreign object to him.

"Like, literally from 'Aliens,' the movie," Nelson said, pondering the kelp's fronds and rubbery, tubular stalks on a harvest boat trip last fa...