"Seaweed is not a fish!"—one of my key messages at the Arctic Algae Conference in #Reykjavik, #Iceland, on September 5th, 2024.
When you have a metric ton of fish on your deck, the potential revenue is clear: it’s just a matter of time to market and price, with steady demand always present. But when you harvest a metric ton of seaweed, the challenge begins. Seaweed must be made storage-stable within 24 hours, or it risks spoilage. Market demand varies significantly depending on the species, processing methods, price, and bioactive compounds.
Unlike fish, the #seaweed business is more about blue #biotech than just #biomass. Understanding the market and applying the right technology is crucial to converting raw seaweed into valuable products. In the Western world, we need to lower the costs of cultivated seaweed and scale up production to make seaweed a #sustainable and reliable resource that can replace existing sources, enhance food and feed health, and reduce carbon footprints across supply chains. This requires active participation from established food, feed, and commodity producers through long-term off-take agreements, committing to price points and product supplies.
The conference featured many exciting presentations, including insights from Dorit Avni, the coordinator of the #Horizon2020 Project Algae4IBD, on the impact of macro- and microalgae species on the microbiome, and Jorunn Skjermo (SINTEF Ocean), who shared results from some of the world’s most exposed seaweed cultivation unit and the related modeling work. It was also a pleasure to see the first results from Ocean Rainforest's joint venture, Lava Seaweed, in Iceland and the #CircleFeed project funded by Nordic Innovation.
A big thank you to #Rækt with Ingibjörg VALGEIRSDOTTIR, and Sigurdur Petursson for organizing the event at the wonderful Arion banki venue.
