Câr-Y-Môr

Creating a thriving shellfish and seaweed farm is a long journey, often starting at least two years before a single farm can be deployed.   Our first step? Asking local communities if they’d support a Community Benefit Society establishing a sea farm in their waters. Once we have their backing, our skilled marine scientists take over, working on seabed surveys, Habitats Regulations Assessments (HRA), and visual impact assessments. These are just a few pieces of the marine admin puzzle needed to secure a Marine License. Once the application is approved, we move into ongoing environmental and species monitoring to ensure our farming practices protect the marine ecosystem. For every hour spent on the boat, there are at least four more behind a computer! One of the stars of this process is our marine biologist, Beth Marshall. With years of experience in aquaculture and environmental monitoring, she’s one of the hardest-working members of the Câr y Môr family. When Beth’s not out on the water, you’ll find her pouring over side-scan sonar images, checking the health of the seabed, compiling the detailed environmental reports required by our license, or updating our Ocean Farmer monitoring app. She’s also the mastermind behind scheduling the maintenance and stock work for when the weather and tides cooperate. Beth’s vision is to establish Wales’s only seaweed hatchery in the old lifeboat station at St. Justinians. This hatchery would not only provide seedlings for our farms but also create local jobs and inspire others to start their own farms in Wales’s beautiful seas. The Community Benefit Society is working tirelessly with the RNLI, TCE and PCNPA to make this dream a reality. Beth’s expertise doesn’t stop at Câr y Môr either, read more about the pioneering projects she’s contributed to such as PEBL https://lnkd.in/e-MZznap and Project Madoc https://lnkd.in/eJehDnYF which are helping kick-start the shellfish and seaweed farming sector across Wales.

It’s a team effort and creating Wales first seaweed bio-refinery is no small job! As with any big project, we’ve had quite a few set backs to deal with, namely the rescheduling of grant timings, dealing with the complexity of claims as required by DEFRA and the extra time it takes to resolve planning detail issues…but the roof is ON and we couldn’t be more excited for this next chapter in our story. As always we’d love to thank the team that keep this very important milestone moving ahead. Tom Wozniak for seeing us through many challenges and the day to day and of course thanks to Dai Murphy and his JCB team who, in rain or shine, ensure this thing gets built! #Pembrokeshire #Seaweedfarming

Last week we featured on a special episode of BBC Weatherman Walking! You can catch us on iPlayer to watch Derek in Pembrokeshire, walking from St David’s to Whitesands and celebrating the projects that are supported by BBC Children in Need. https://lnkd.in/e7NRGVRt #childreninneed #pembrokeshire

A journey into seaweed across Pembrokeshire! Wales is embracing a new wave of sustainable food production, and Câr y Môr is proud to be at the forefront of this seaweed revolution. This article explores how coastal foraging trips and local seaweed businesses are transforming Welsh cuisine and fostering environmental resilience. At Câr y Môr, we’re passionate about harnessing the power of the ocean to create sustainable, nutritious, and delicious seaweed products while supporting our marine ecosystem and coastal communities. Dip into the full article to discover how we and other businesses are making waves in this ever growing industry! #seaweed #fortheloveofthesea https://lnkd.in/eF3Nat7c

How to prepare the next generation for a sustainable future? Last week we joined Chris Smith from Zombie Plastics C.I.C. and Anna Strzelecki from iSeaSurfwear at the wonderful Cymbrogi Futures, which exists to equip the next generation to deal with a climate changed world. The aim was to help educate the children about bioplastics, recycling and using the 5 R's; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse, Repair. The children from Pembroke Community School got to experience different seaweeds and understand its power as both a food source and potential as a plastic alternative! This project was made possible by https://pobltirmor.wales/ and funding from the Welsh Government’s Landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme, administered by WCVA | CGGC

From the surf to the screen! We are delighted to have been featured in an award-winning film highlighting the plastics problem in our seas and on our coastlines. The filmmakers, who lived in Cornwall for three years whilst studying, all love surfing and swimming but couldn’t help noticing the millions of micro plastics on the strand line around the north and south coast of Cornwall. The film came about after the director, Olaf Lawrence found an article about seaweed plastics and how they are starting to be used as a natural and sustainable alternative to single use plastics. #seaweed #plasticpollution #fortheloveofthesea https://lnkd.in/exBbkdtr

We can assume that you follow us because you're fascinated by #seaweed, but how many of you have actually tasted it 🤔? This summer, we welcomed the Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company into the Câr-y-Môr family. Bringing together their award-winning range of seaweed-based condiments with our mission to champion regenerative ocean farming felt like a natural fit. Since then, the team have dolloped, slathered, and sprinkled the range of seasonings and condiments onto our favourite dishes at any opportunity we get... ✅🦀Crab butties ✅🍕Pizza ✅🎣Fish stews ✅🧀Cheese toasties ✅🍟Chips   But it got us wondering… does our audience REALLY understand how tasty it is 😋? So we thought to offer a 10% off code to anyone who wants to try it. Maybe you’d like to start with Kelpchup—an award-winning seaweed-based take on ketchup. Or if you like a bit of heat, try the Sweet Chilli Sauce. Got a go-to dish that could do with some oomph? Try the seasonings. We believe seaweed is that missing ingredient your kitchen you didn’t know it needed. Hopefully now, you will too! Use EARLYBIRD10 to give your taste buds the adventure they’ve been waiting for. Code is live today (Thu 31st) only - so don't wait around before diving in ⏰! Link in comments. Image 1 @ hoogahswansea Image 2 @ near__by__ Image 3 @ scandinathan

Thanks to WWF-UK funding, two members of our ocean farm team—Ferg and Beth—recently visited the South West coast of Ireland, where we met Michael O'Neill from Pure Ocean Algae and Colin Whooley from Roaring Water Bay Mussels. Micheal and Colin were brilliant hosts, and we greatly appreciate their time and expertise in answering our many (many) questions! Our first stop was Pure Ocean Algae on the Beara Peninsula. Micheal showcased his years of research and hard work in cultivating dulse, a challenging species. We were thrilled to see their advanced facilities, including tanks full of dulse ready for seeding, and we discussed seaweed farm designs and the challenges involved. We left with valuable ideas for our future plans in Pembrokeshire. Huge thanks to Micheal for his hospitality and for patiently answering our questions, as well as to Aileen for the wonderful gifts of Irish Atlantic Sea Salt. The next day, we visited Colin at Roaring Water Bay Mussels, where we were impressed by the extensive mussel longlines. Colin has been farming mussels for over 20 years and is the only operator in the area with a consistent supply year-round. It was inspiring to learn about his large-scale operation and the recent challenges facing mussel aquaculture on the west coast of Ireland. Colin generously took us out on his mussel boat, and we were amazed by the quality of his mussels, which we aspire to match in the future. Our thanks go to Colin for the opportunity to see his mussel lines firsthand and for sharing valuable tips for growing mussels in Ramsey Sound. With Micheal and Colin receiving support from BIM, we look forward to building a similar relationship with NRW and other licensing bodies in Wales. We’re excited to welcome members of the Marine Licensing Team to Car-Y-Mor soon to show them our farms and discuss future plans. Finally, this trip wouldn’t have been possible without Donna Page from Pembrokeshire County Council, who organised everything and facilitated important conversations about the future of aquaculture in both countries. We look forward to working with her to develop the sector in Pembrokeshire and are grateful for the council’s continued funding of this essential role. This trip has been invaluable for Câr-y-Môr, allowing us to connect with like-minded individuals dedicated to positively impacting our oceans and fostering collaboration across the Irish Sea. #Aquaculture #BlueEconomy #OceanRegeneration #Sea

Last week, François headed across to Blue Earth Summit, connecting with incredible leaders and innovators in sustainability and community-driven impact. Here are a few highlights: 🌱 Insightful discussions with Alex Beasley and Nina Hajikhanian from Patagonia about bridging the gap between community benefit societies and potential investors. Their dedication to supporting sustainable initiatives is truly motivating! 🔍 Conversations with Jacques Villemot from Rewilding Britain about upcoming grant opportunities and Sally Beken from Innovate UK about potential funding avenues that could empower our work. 📚 Connecting with Bianca Peel, who develops learning materials for The Ocean Race, sparked great discussions around education and outreach—a key focus area for us at Câr-y-Môr. 🔄 A major takeaway was the emphasis on using the Future Generations model as a filter for all business decisions—an approach that aligns perfectly with our commitment to community and sustainability. Thanks to the Blue Earth team for hosting another great event. If you were there (or not) and would like to chat further about ocean and community regeneration, sustainable food sources and the potential for seaweed to revolutionise farming - reach out and let’s chat. #RegenerativeFarming #OceanConservation #CommunityImpact #BlueEarthSummit

Car-Y-Môr has been featured on BBC Radio 4's The Food Programme! As Wales' first regenerative ocean farm, we're proud to share our journey toward sustainable, community-driven seafood production. This segment dives into our passion for nurturing the Pembrokeshire coast through seaweed and shellfish farming, supporting local ecosystems, and building a resilient, sustainable food source for future generations. In the episode, you’ll hear about the vital role our farm plays in promoting sustainability, biodiversity, and contributing to the vibrant Welsh coastal economy. You can listen to the episode here: https://lnkd.in/gR5_WbuV ...and join us on our mission to create a sustainable blue economy! @bbc4radio @bbcfoodprog