Introduction
In recent years, there has been great interest in seaweed farming in Europe for several reasons. Seaweeds are seen as a relevant source of biomass, such as food, feed, materials, biofuels, fertilisers and as a gelling agent and provide positive environmental externalities such as mitigating ocean acidification and maintaining ecosystem services such as generating habitat (Duarte et al., 2020; Duarte, Wu, Xiao, Bruhn, & Krause-Jensen, 2017; Theuerkauf et al., 2019; Xiao et al., 2021).
The European algae market so far represents a marginal portion of global seaweed production, while Asian suppliers account for around 87% of global supply (Vincent, Stanley, & Ring, 2020). Projects such as PROSEAWEED provided options for increasing the sustainable production and sustainable harvesting of algae culture in Europe with the aim to implement a successful large-scale farming, reducing transport costs and increasing the local seaweed industry and its attractiveness on the market.
Problem definition
There are currently no standardized farming methods or cultivation structures, perfectly domesticated seaweed species, or a guidebook for the ideal farming site. The risk seaweed cultivators are facing, such as weather conditions, losing one whole harvest due to unpredictable environmental hazards, or not being able to sell at a profitable price, can hinder the development of the market.
Objective
As part of PROSEAWEED, it was looked into what can be learnt from successful European seaweed farms, and how can that help to improve the business case of other new farms, for instance, in the Dutch North Sea and even large-scale seaweed farming.
Methodology
We conducted a literature research, reviewing publications on the economics of seaweed cultivation in Europe. The quantitative data was very limited and since every farm has their own approach to cultivating and harvesting, comparisons were difficult to make. We then focused on qualitative data, compiling factors that could lead a European seaweed farm to success and discussed them in detail with three successful seaweed companies.
Intended output
Learning from each other in such a young industry is key. The proposed presentation would like to display our findings on success factors for European seaweed farms findings and allow for further knowledge exchange from other seaweed farmers and even more important from other more established aquacultural industries.
References
Duarte, C. M., Agusti, S., Barbier, E., Britten, G. L., Castilla, J. C., Gattuso, J. P., . . . Worm, B. (2020). Rebuilding marine life. Nature, 580(7801), 39-51. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2146-7
Duarte, C. M., Wu, J., Xiao, X., Bruhn, A., & Krause-Jensen, D. (2017). Can seaweed farming play a role in climate change mitigation and adaptation? Frontiers in Marine Science, 4(APR), 100. doi:10.3389/fmars.2017.00100
Theuerkauf, S. J., Morris, J. A., Waters, T. J., Wickliffe, L. C., Alleway, H. K., & Jones, R. C. (2019). A global spatial analysis reveals where marine aquaculture can benefit nature and people. PLoS ONE, 14(10), 1-29. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0222282
Vincent, A., Stanley, A., & Ring, J. (2020). Hidden Champion of the ocean. Retrieved from https://www.seaweedeurope.com/hidden-champion/
Xiao, X., Agustí, S., Yu, Y., Huang, Y., Chen, W., Hu, J., . . . Duarte, C. M. (2021). Seaweed farms provide refugia from ocean acidification. Science of the Total Environment, 776(March). doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145192