A salmon hatchery wants to grow at Sitka's old pulp mill site

The nonprofit that runs much of Southeast Alaska's salmon hatchery production is looking to expand its footprint in Sitka. On Tuesday, the Sitka Assembly takes up a lease that would give the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association a second lot at the Gary Paxton Industrial Park.

NSRAA has operated at the park since 2018, and its hatcheries feed both the commercial and sport fisheries that much of the region's economy runs on — the fish those boats catch are shaped, in part, by what these hatcheries release. A second parcel at the deep-water former pulp mill site would give the association room to grow.

Tuesday's vote is only a first reading, so a second vote at a later meeting would be needed before the lease is final. The lease terms aren't in the meeting agenda; they're in the full council packet online.