Today we’re talking to Matt Schultz, an Anchorage pastor running for congress. Alaska has only one seat in the House of Representatives, which is currently held by Nick Begich. Kelp the Vote! Mariculture Minute is committed to providing Alaskan voters with information on how our politicians view mariculture.

Matt, as he prefers to be called, answers my questions about mariculture and even drops a recipe.

Matt Schultz’s Salmon Glaze

The quantities of each ingredient vary per your tastes

*Honey

*Garlic

*Soy Sauce

*Ginger

The glazed salmon is served with rice and broccoli, but I’d suggest substituting the broccoli with some sea greens–like Ulva sea lettuce or maybe even some home made bull kelp pickles.

Matt Schultz’s favorite mariculture food?

Barnacle Salsa (mild)More information on Matt:

His campaign site: Matt Schultz for Alaska

An interview with more details about Matt’s campaign (from Alaska Public Media): 15 minutes with Matt Schultz, new Democratic candidate for U.S. House

Vocab Words:In this episode congressional candidate Matt Schultz let loose three vocab words that relate to mariculture:

Cold Storage - like the name implies, it’s when something is kept at a low temperature. Cold Storage is important in seaweed farming as seaweed begins to lose quality as soon as its removed from the ocean. Matt talked about helping ocean farmers with more infrastructure for cold storage. Here’s science-tastic article that gets into the weeds! “The Effect Of Post-Harvest Storage Temperature And Drying Method On Th” by Jessica Vorse

Outmigration - when people leave an area. Outmigration in Alaska is often referred to more people leaving than are arriving, causing a decrease in the state’s population (among other things like number of workers). Matt talked about supporting mariculture as a way to increase the workforce and reverse outmigration. News article! Alaska population rises slightly, but more people continue to move out than move in

Subsistence - I hear this a lot in Alaska, in the lower 48 I might have heard the term “living off the land”--subsistence defines the act of hunting, fishing or harvesting food from the local environment to feed yourself and your community. Subsistence can be an issue in terms of residents competing with commercial interests. Here’s an article from a few months back: AFN alarmed by proposed review of Alaska’s system of subsistence hunting and fishing

Voting Links!

Register to vote! https://voterregistration.alaska.gov/

Here’s some basic info about who’s running - 2026 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska - WikipediaUnited States

More basic information! I find it helpful to check multiple sources on election facts because the number of candidates changes frequently - House of Representatives election in Alaska, 2026 - Ballotpedia

Information how Alaska’s non-partisan primary works–the top four candidates move on to the general election… Election Information - Division of Elections

Alaska only has one rep in congress and we’re not alone! Number of U.S. House of Representatives Seats by State | Britannica

Weather Monitoring and DOGEMatt mentioned cuts to federal programs for weather monitoring, here’s more details:

Lawsuit aims to stop Trump administration from dissolving largest climate and weather research lab in the US - ABC News

How politics is weakening America’s weather service | Brookings

Kelp Cement! In the episode I briefly mentioned Jessica McKay’s presentation at this year’s Mariculture Conference in Anchorage. Here’s a link to McKay’s work: https://www.alaska.edu/news/did-you-know/McKay_INE_Poster_kelp-cement.pdf

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