Seaweeds beckon tomorrow's farmers

The Australian Seaweed Institute was recently interviewed for FISH, a publication by Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC)

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The Australian Seaweed Institute (ASI) also has a development proposal underway for Moreton Bay, with a larger vision for 60 hectares of seaweed mariculture, producing up to 5000 wet tonnes a year. CEO Jo Kelly is enthusiastic about the potential for a national seaweed industry to provide jobs in regional areas, while the crop itself provides ecosystems services that support a low carbon economy.

She says the Queensland Government is supportive of seaweed aquaculture. “It’s a no-brainer to invest in an industry that improves the health of bays, oceans and reefs, provides jobs in regional areas and produces high-value products for the domestic and international markets. The time is right to bring regulators, researchers and industry players together to get serious about mobilising investment needed to grow seaweed to a billion-dollar industry.”

Seaweeds beckon tomorrow's farmers

By Catherine Norwood

Beyond the populism of vegan superfoods, plastics alternatives and climate solutions, there is gathering research interest and financial support for seaweeds which could underpin a new plant-focused approach to aquaculture in Australia.

In Australia, seaweed aquaculture is a nascent industry, although one for which momentum is growing, with new research into native species, propagation techniques and functional properties. Long-term ambitions are large and growing. There is the potential for a billion-dollar industry providing thousands of jobs – many in regional communities – and a range of increasingly important ecosystem services along with new food and industrial products. 

Global impacts

Figures from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicate that cultivated seaweed production in 2015 amounted to 30 million tonnes globally. This was led by China (13.9 million tonnes), Indonesia (11.3 million tonnes), the Philippines (1.5 million tonnes) and South Korea (1.2 million tonnes).

China currently has more than 1250 square kilometres of farmed seaweeds that are grown for the products they provide, including foods and industrial food and chemical ingredients, but just as important is their ability to improve water quality in areas affected by high nutrient and low oxygen levels, and increased acidity. One recent research project estimated that China’s farmed seaweeds remove 75,000 tonnes of nitrogen and 9500 tonnes of phosphorus from the country’s coastal waters each year.

The ability of seaweeds to help mitigate climate change by absorbing carbon is gaining considerable attention and is the focus of many new research projects. Leading Australian scientist and conservationist Tim Flannery is an advocate of seaweeds and what they can deliver for humans and the environment. In his 2017 book Sunlight and seaweed − an argument for how to feed, power and clean up the world he outlines how large-scale seaweed cultivation could reduce levels of atmospheric carbon to fix current climate issues.

To sequester carbon requires growing it (capturing the carbon), then harvesting the seaweed or allowing it to sink and accumulate on the ocean floor (locking it up), effectively burying stored carbon. While it is known that carbon captured by seaweeds can be sequestered in oceanic sinks, there are still unknowns in the sequestration process, in particular what happens to the seaweed when it sinks. Continued research to answer key questions will be needed if seaweed is to establish its carbon-accounting credentials, allowing for the creation of blue carbon offsets.


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