Seaweed farming is a practice that began over 1,000 years ago in Japan and China. While it has been a thriving industry in Asian countries since the 1960' and 70's, commercial seaweed production didn't begin in the United States until 2010. Recently, it has gained more attention from scientists as a way to tackle climate issues while providing food and fuel to meet demands of future population growth.
How Does It Work?
- Seaweed is grown on seeded lines supsended 4-8 feet below the ocean surface
- Crops are usually started around November and harvested around March
Seaweed Uses
Seaweed production is the fastest growing industry in the global food market
While the US shows great potential for seaweed production...
According to a 2020 market analysis report by Island Institute:
- North America only contributes 0.1% to global seaweed production
- The states of Maine and Alaska currently provide more than 85% of domestic seaweed
- U.S. demand for seaweed is higher than domestic supply
There is potential to grow large amounts of seaweed in US waters and the market outlook for seaweed looks promising.
The question is...
Is industrial seaweed farming in the United States worth the environmental risk?
Environmental Risks of Farming Seaweed
But there is strong scientific evidence that seaweed farming can actually provide many environmental benefits.
Seaweed cultivation can help prevent eutrophication
"The World Bank predicts that achieving a global production of 500 million tons of seaweed by 2050 would absorb 10 million tons of nitrogen, which is 30 percent of the nitrogen estimated to enter the ocean, and 15 million tons of phosphorus, which is 33 percent of the total phosphorus produced through fertilizers, from the ocean." (GlobalSeafood, 2017).
Seaweed Farming as Sustainable Aquaculture
Regenerative Ocean Farming, an approach practiced by GreenWave, has gained a lot of attention recently. They combine seaweed farming with the farming of bivalves (scallops, mussels, clams and oysters), creating a symbiotic environment and enhancing benefits. Their goal is to expand this technique in the US by providing free training and support to 10,000 new ocean farmers.
- Ocean farming lessens the growing competition for access to land and fresh water
- Seaweed cultivation in the United States has the potential to reach 500 million tons of red and brown algae, able to provide more biofuel energy than over 23 billion gallons of gasoline
Barriers to Farming a New Frontier
"'There's a lot of people who are interested in seaweed farming, take a look at that [permitting] flowchart, and decide there's just no functional way,' said Laura Butler, aquaculture coordinator with the Washington State Department of Agriculture." (Brown, 2022)
Competing for Waters
Ocean farmers operate their farm sites in public waters.
- They must compete with ocean users like the military, shipping companies, recreational boaters, commercial and recreational fishers, protected habitats and shorefront property owners.
- Permitting is slow and inefficient because these farms operate in the commons.
Funding
Seaweed farming in the US is currently a venture involving small, independent businesses working with limited funds.
Meeting the growth potential of seaweed farming will require a huge investment into infrastructure, equipment, processing facilities, job training and research.
The Corporate Solution?
Stronger America Through Seafood is a nonprofit organization working on increasing aquaculture production in the US. They have the financial backing to fund lobbyists and research. Though their main focus is currently on seafood, seaweed farming has gained their attention and the policies they are working to enact will also pave the way for seaweed production.
But will corporate backing come with the corporate values that are largely responsible for our environmental crisis?
Seaweed farming in the ocean holds a lot of potential to solve many environmental problems while reaping economic rewards...
... if it is done conscientiously.
If done with a short-sighted vision on profit alone, the effect may only quicken our path to disaster.
What can YOU do?
Be an active voter!
"The Moment" by Margaret Atwood
Investing in seaweed farming as a form of sustainable aquaculture is worth the risk. However, we must approach this developing technology detached from the idea of ownership and profit.
We need to share new techniques and work together to implement seaweed farming on a larger scale and help restore our environment.
Works Cited
“Seaweed Aquaculture.” NOAA Fisheries, 28 September 2020, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/aquaculture/seaweed-aquaculture. Accessed 22 July 2022.
Fehrenbacher, Katie. “Meet the new US entrepreneurs farming seaweed for food and fuel.” The Guardian, 29 June 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jun/29/seaweed-farms-us-california-food-fuel. Accessed 30 July 2022.
“Restorative Aquaculture Report.” The Nature Conservancy, https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/TNC_PrinciplesofRestorativeAquaculture.pdf. Accessed 22 July 2022.
“Carrageenan Uses In Food: Top 10 You Should Be Most Familiar With.” Gino Biotech, 11 December 2020, https://ginobiotech.com/carrageenan-uses-in-food/. Accessed 30 July 2022
“NCCOS Helps Identify Global Opportunities for Shellfish and Seaweed Aquaculture.” nccos, 25 September 2020, https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/news/nccos-helps-identify-global-opportunities-for-shellfish-and-seaweed-aquaculture/. Accessed 30 July 2022.
Island Institute, et al. “Edible Seaweed Market Analysis.” https://www.islandinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Edible-Seaweed-Market-Analysis-1.17.20.pdf, Island Institute, 2020, https://www.islandinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Edible-Seaweed-Market-Analysis-1.17.20.pdf. Accessed 30 July 2022.
Meserve, Devan. “Seaweed Aquaculture: Benefiting the Ocean and the Economy.” Global Seafood Alliance, 8 Sept. 2021, https://www.globalseafood.org/blog/seaweed-aquaculture-benefits/. Accessed 23 July, 2022.
“Seaweed Farming Has Vast Potential (but Good Luck Getting a Permit).” The Pew Charitable Trusts, https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/03/07/seaweed-farming-has-vast-potential-but-good-luck-getting-a-permit. Accessed 30 July, 2022.
Lindell, Scott, and Hauke Kite-Powell. “Meeting Protein and Energy Needs for 10 Billion People While Restoring Oceans.” Marine Technology Society Journal, vol. 55, no. 3, 2021, pp. 124 -125. Ingenta Connect, https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mts/mtsj/2021/00000055/00000003/art00042. Accessed 19 July 2022.
“Encouraging Coastal Communities to Engage with Seaweed Aquaculture.” The Fish Site, 29 July 2022, https://thefishsite.com/articles/encouraging-coastal-communities-to-engage-with-seaweed-aquaculture. Accessed 30 July 2022.
Duarte, Carlos M., et al. “Can Seaweed Farming Play a Role in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation?” Frontiers in Marine Science, 2017. Frontiers, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2017.00100/full. Accessed 20 July 2022.
Rogers, Eric. “Seaweed Farming: A Sustainable, Profitable Alternative To ...” FishArticle, https://fisharticle.com/seaweed-farming/. Accessed 30 July 2022.
Kim, JangKyun, et al. “Opportunities, challenges and future directions of open-water seaweed aquaculture in the United States.” Phycologia, vol. 58, no. 5, 2019, pp. 446 - 461. Taylor Francis Online, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00318884.2019.1625611. Accessed 29 July 2022.
“Farmed Seaweed | Industries | WWF.” World Wildlife Fund, https://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/farmed-seaweed. Accessed 28 July 2022.
Graba-Landry, Alexia. “Seaweeds are just as sensitive as corals to ocean warming.” Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation, 28 July 2019, https://lirrf.org/seaweeds-are-just-as-sensitive-as-corals-to-ocean-warming/. Accessed 31 July 2022.
Mouritsen, O.G., Rhatigan, P., Cornish, M.L. et al. “Saved by seaweeds: phyconomic contributions in times of crises”. Journal of Applied Phycology 33, 443–458, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-020-02256-4. Accessed July 27, 2022
Benson, Judy. “CTSG-led project looks to help unlock potential of seaweed | Connecticut Sea Grant.” Connecticut Sea Grant, 27 January 2021, https://seagrant.uconn.edu/2021/01/27/ctsg-led-project-looks-to-help-unlock-potential-of-seaweed/#. Accessed 1 August 2022.
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