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Seaweed Aquaculture

Seaweed cultivation is rapidly expanding globally. The leading region for seaweed production is Asia, although other regions (i.e., South America, Africa and Europe) have increasingly begun to cultivate selected seaweeds in response to rising global demand for a wide range of products dedicated to human consumption, such as food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. Other uses include agricultural fertilisers, livestock feed, biofuels, biomaterials used, for example in food packaging, and more recently the capture of atmospheric carbon.

Currently, seaweed production accounts for ~51% of total global marine and coastal aquaculture production by volume, equating to nearly 35 million t. Exponential growth of the seaweed industry, particularly in the last 50 years, resulted in the sector reaching US$14.7 billion in 2019. Seaweeds are cultivated in over 54 countries worldwide at various scales, fromless than one to many thousands of hectares. The seaweed industry provides jobs to over 6 million farmers, predominantly in coastal communities in low and middleincome countries. These communities mostly sell their seaweed products to foreign, multi-national companies for processing and export. (Corrier-Cook, 2022) Download PDF

Aquaculture

Nori

Kelp

Eucheumoid algae

Seaweed Biosecurity is an increasingly important issue in seaweed aquaculture (Download a PDF).

Guide to Commercially Important Seaweeds on the Irish Coast. Download PDF.

Seaweed cultivation in Ireland
  • Bio AtlantisBioAtlantis provides sustainable technologies from the sea to enhance plant, animal and human health.
  • Connemara Organic Seaweed CompanyConnemara Organic Seaweed Company provide hand harvested, sustainable, kelp and seaweed products for human consumption through health supplements and edible products.
  • Emerald Isle Organic Irish SeaweedEmerald Isle Organic Irish Seaweed. A family business producing seaweed as supplements, cooking, gardening and bath products.
  • Irish Seaweeds LtdIrish Seaweeds Ltd are suppliers of 100% natural hand-harvested seaweeds and edible sea vegetable products from Ireland.