Outside of a handful of small producers in California, Alaska and New England, the vast majority of seaweed used in the U.S. is imported from Asia, leaving us with an import-export deficit of more than $33 million. It's a product ripe for highly sustainable land-based farming but what’s missing are the hatchery facilities needed to launch a robust domestic seaweed industry.
A funding grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Sea Grant Office hopes to change that by creating a novel, non-proprietary hatchery technology that can be used in land-based facilities for seaweed production to help serve and expand the domestic market.
While dulse, red ogo and sea lettuce are the most popular seaweeds in the U.S., dozens of other species are suitable for growing and food, but two things are missing: the culturing technology and enough seaweed hatcheries.
Project partner Dr. Michael Graham, professor at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, and his colleagues have led the development of a prototype of a modular hatchery system that can be used to address this seaweed seed shortage. The new grant will provide Graham, California Sea Grant Extension Specialist Theresa Talley and their team of aquaculture scientists and industry members the ability to refine the design of the system, develop accompanying protocols, test the system in industry settings throughout the state and get the system into the hands of new growers.
Theresa Sinicrope Talley