Economics

Having extensively explored the Western seaweed industry, Steven Hermans set off at the end of last year on a new adventure to Asia – the epicentre of seaweed cultivation.

Loc Tran is on the cusp of stocking a brand new 30 ha, 1,500 tonne capacity shrimp farm which he hopes will offer a blueprint for a new generation of farmers in Vietnam.

Independent sustainable shrimp producers will go out of business unless retailers are willing to pay more for their product, according to Jessica Rivera Rodriguez, sales director at MER Seafood, one of Honduras’s largest privately owned shrimp companies.

Despite facing a number of key challenges, Bangladesh’s monodon sector has an opportunity to position itself as a low carbon alternative to the more intensively produced vannamei that dominate global markets.

Global shrimp production is forecast to reach 5.7 million tonnes this year and 6.1 million next – up from 5.4 million in 2023 – according to Erwin Termaat, shrimp analyst at Kontali.

The global salmon sector has been experiencing one of the most challenging periods for many years, with production issues in Norway and Chile being particularly acute.

As BioMara kicks off its bid to raise £2 million to fund its processing scale-up to deliver orders for customers, Jay Dignan details how the Scottish startup aims to catalyse the growth of the country’s seaweed sector – right along the value chain.

While there are still a number of challenges to overcome, a number of innovators in the Philippines believe that cultivating Ulva has long term potential at a time when diversification of the country’s seaweed sector would be welcomed.