Two retired seafood veterans in Alaska have called for a relaxation of the US state's ban on finfish farming to allow the commercial raising of freshwater fish.

"As Alaska seeks ways to diversify its economy, it is time to rethink the overreach of the ban," wrote Rodger Painter and Tom Henderson in a co-authored opinion piece for the Alaska Beacon. 

Painter, a former journalist, once headed the pro-fish farming Alaska Mariculture Association, which unsuccessfully lobbied against banning fish farms in 1990.  He penned the commentary with Tom Henderson, the former head of OceansAlaska, a shellfish hatchery and research facility in Ketchikan, Alaska.

In the opinion article, the pair argued that Alaska's comprehensive ban on finfish farming is too restrictive.

"The farming of freshwater finfish, such as arctic char, sheefish, rainbow trout and even tilapia, in upland tanks or enclosed lakes or ponds could provide jobs and increase food security without harming the environment or threatening wild stocks."

The pair pointed to an existing arctic char-raising operation at Icy Waters near Whitehorse in Canada's Yukon Territory that's been in operation for three decades.

"Arctic char is an important commercial and subsistence species across Siberia, Alaska, Canada, Iceland and Scandinavia," they wrote, adding that it can sell for more than $17 per pound in the US retail market. 

They continued that Alaska's cold climate is perfect for raising freshwater species like arctic char and sheefish, which could even spend winters in freshwater lakes.

They do not advocate farming Pacific or Atlantic salmon, the latter of which is commonly raised in ocean pens in nearby British Columbia. 

"Other species might have more obstacles than char and sheefish because most will require warmer rearing waters and may have more problems with disease, rainbow trout as an example," they wrote.

Finfish farming is illegal in Alaska and would require state lawmakers to draft and pass legislation.