Melania Lynn Cornish is one of Canada’s true seaweed farming pioneers and, following 30 years in the sector, is now passing on her hard-won skills to a new generation of small seaweed farmers in Malaysia.
Seaweed aquaculture and kelp forest restoration are getting a tentative nod as a blue carbon strategy – but the way policymakers structure carbon credits and offsets may make its benefits theoretical instead of bankable.
Ocean 14 Capital Fund, which is over half way to raising €150 million, is looking to make a series of game-changing investments in the aquaculture sector as it seeks to improve global food security while ensuring the long-term health of the oceans.
Artificial reefs made from innovative, low-carbon emission materials have the potential to improve biodiversity around aquaculture sites and may even open up opportunities for multi-trophic aquaculture, according to Max Morgan-Kay of ARC Marine.
Collectively managed ”sea allotments”, which produce mussels for consumption by local communities, are a growing trend in Denmark, as more people bid to produce environmentally sustainable – and delicious – local seafood.
A new project that aims to investigate growing kelp and mussels alongside offshore wind turbines – as well as researching the potential for artificial reefs – has been awarded a NOK 84 million (£7 million) grant.
Jennifer O’Brien, founder of Sea and Believe, explains how childhood kelp baths not only restored her health but also helped to sow the seeds of a algae-based alt-seafood startup.
