By Hugh Hogan and Laurissa Smith for abc.net.au
Edible seaweed has long been a staple in Asian cuisines, but now its target market is shifting to the four-legged consumer.
The CSIRO has previously shown that a small amount of Asparagopsis seaweed added to a cow's diet can reduce methane emissions by more than 80 per cent.
Livestock account for 10 per cent of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions.
A Tasmanian start-up is hoping to fix this problem by farming the waterborne plant and supplying it to farmers.
Former fashion designer Sam Elsom is the founder of Sea Forest, which is growing the plant at Triabunna on Tasmania's east coast.
"In our hatchery, we get the seaweed to attach to ropes and we're deploying that out in the ocean in a marine lease," he said.
Growing seaweed on land
Sea Forest founder Sam Elsom dives for wild Asparagopsis seaweed to propagate in the land-based facility.(Supplied: Sea Forest)
The farm grows the seaweed in land-based tanks and in the nearby bay depending on the lifecycle stage of the plant.
"In the ponds, we're growing tetrasporophyte, which looks like a pompom," Mr Elsom said.
"They are growing in these land-based raceways, utilising that filtered seawater."
Once harvested, the moisture is removed from the seaweed and chilled before it is freeze-dried offsite.
The business had so far harvested 100 kilograms and had plans to ramp up to more than 300 tonnes of the dried Asparagopsis annually.
"What we have here with farming seaweed is a significant drawdown of CO2 through photosynthesis and also methane abatement, through the feeding of Asparagopsis to livestock," Mr Elsom said.
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