Unlocking the potential of seaweed farming as a nature-positive sector
At the launch of the new Irish Seaweed Association are Dr Dharm Kapletia, research fellow at Centre for Social innovation at Trinity Business School; Nessa O’Connor, Professor in Zoology, Trinity; and Gareth Murphy, PM at Óir Na Farraige part of Simply Blue Group and chair of the Irish Seaweed Association. Picture: Paul Sharp/SHARPPIX
Seaweed has been an important source of food and nutrition in Ireland for millennia. In recent years however, there has been much focus on the wide range of alternative uses, including animal feed, pet food, cosmetics, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals, fertilisers and biostimulants, fabrics, bioplastics and even construction.
The global seaweed industry is projected to reach €22 billion by 2028. This is driven by the increasing demand for sustainable food and algae-based products. The main indigenous species farmed in Ireland include Alaria esculenta (winged kelp or wakame), Saccharina latissima (sugar kelp) and Palmaria palmata (dulse/dillisk). Building on what has been learned with these species, there is significant potential for future growth and exports.
Over the last decade Irish universities have also attracted tens of millions of research and innovation funding to support this industry.
Much of Ireland’s seaweed farming happens on the West coast. Compared to fish and shellfish aquaculture, it is a relatively small sector. But there is growing interest, particularly from younger generations, in the future potential of seaweed as well as deepening understanding of its environmental and ecological benefits.
Seaweed farming requires no freshwater or additional fertilisers and has far less environmental impact than land-based agriculture or other forms of aquaculture. When practised sustainably, seaweed farming could even help improve local habitats, biodiversity and water quality. Farming seaweed may also help reduce pressure from wild harvesting in certain areas and also presents a more sustainable means of scaling the seaweed industry.
The recent launch of the new Irish Seaweed Association in Trinity Business School has been hailed as a milestone in Ireland’s commitment to regenerative ocean farming and the development of a sustainable blue economy.
Exciting news for Ireland’s blue economy today with the launch of The Irish Seaweed Association, uniting industry, researchers, and policymakers to unlock the potential of #RegenerativeOceanFarming. 🤝💡 Learn more: https://t.co/N7J2IFKvnN#BlueEconomy #SustainableSeaweed pic.twitter.com/eguz8QaBtp
— Simply Blue Group (@SimplyBlueGroup) February 28, 2025
At the launch event, we heard from Maris Stulgis, policy officer at DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries at the EU Commission, who emphasised the importance of moving towards a ‘regenerative blue economy’. This is an economic model that combines rigorous and effective regeneration and protection of the ocean and marine and coastal ecosystems, with sustainable sea-linked and low-carbon economic activities, and fair prosperity for people and the planet, today and tomorrow.
As Gareth Murphy, PM at Óir Na Farraige and chair of the new Irish Seaweed Association, explained at the launch, with more than 7,500km of coastline, Ireland is uniquely positioned to become a leader in regenerative ocean farming.
By supporting startups, SMEs, and industry players, the Irish Seaweed Association hopes to secure funding, expand market access, and drive automation, processing advancements, and new product development.
Modelled on the highly successful Norwegian Seaweed Association the organisation aims to unite ocean farmers, industry stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers to unlock the potential of seaweed farming as a nature-positive, economically viable, and community-driven sector.
The Irish Seaweed Association is a spin out from the EU Mission Ocean Horizon-funded research project C-FAARER, led by the Centre for Social innovation at Trinity Business School and Trinity’s School of Natural Sciences. This project has been investigating the potential of regenerative ocean farming in Ireland (involving the renewable and sustainable cultivation of seaweed).
A collaboration between Ireland and Norway, the research project is a positive relationship at a time when increasing competition in the oceans over dwindling fish stocks is an ongoing source of conflict between European nations with coastlines on the Atlantic and Arctic Sea basin.
The C-FAARER project, which includes the Norwegian Seaweed Association, has supported collaborations between businesses in Norway and Ireland. The company Blaaker in Norway has been working with Irish partners on biodegradable cellulose-based rope, socks and nets to replace plastic-based ropes — a major source of ocean contamination.
Similarly, Arctic Seaweed in Norway has been collaborating with Irish firms to benefit from the Norwegian company’s highly automated and mechanised practices that will improve the quality of seaweed cultivation and help make the process more economically viable at scale.
Whilst the motivation to create an Irish Seaweed Association has existed for some time, there is now a critical mass of interest, increasing funding from EU projects in this area and a new generation of eco-entrepreneurs that want this to happen. Looking at our neighbours, there is the Scottish Seaweed Industry Association, based in Oban and has been running for 10 years.
The Irish Seaweed Association will have a strengthened collective voice to help shape policy and regulations that impact the seaweed industry. The new group will facilitate access to specialised resources, including knowledge and training to optimise farming practices, which will expand market opportunities. Key to all this is the fact that members of the Irish Seaweed Association are leaders in sustainable change and are champions of environmentally regenerative and economically sustainable aquaculture.
To support this work scientists at Trinity’s School of Natural Sciences are researching which seaweed species grow better under changing environmental conditions. Meanwhile, researchers at Trinity Business School have developed roadmaps that identify policy and governance pathways towards nature-positive economies. The Irish Seaweed Association will engage fellow farmers, researchers, and other professionals to drive innovation and tackle industry challenges together.
The BIM National Seafood Survey 2024 showed an 8% increase in seaweed harvested output at 532 tonnes produced over 1,210 licensed hectares when compared to the previous year and 64% increase in sales value, highlighting the sector's maturation towards commercial production levels and potential for future development.
A big part of the C-FAARER project is to support marine innovators, entrepreneurs and other pioneers in the Atlantic and Arctic Sea basin in transitioning towards the use of community-driven sustainable business models for regenerative ocean farming. The project has produced a community group on the Connecting Nature Enterprise platform to connect seaweed farmers, seaweed-based industries and those interested in seaweed.
In both Norway and Ireland, matters of price and volume of seaweed biomass are central to discussions related to the industry reaching its future economic and job creation potential, but it is also important to promote business models that put coastal communities first.
There is no doubt that the seaweed farming industry faces challenges including-complex licensing procedures, fragmented governance, limited access to processing facilities and uncertain market demand. We hope the new Irish Seaweed Association will serve as a unified voice for the sector, advocating for coherent and inclusive policies, investments, as well as facilitating knowledge-sharing and collaboration.
- Further details about the Irish Seaweed Association can be found here.
