Seaweed cultivation in Northeast Atlantic: what we learned at NACE January 11-13 th 2017, Providence, Rhode Island Dr. Isabelle Tremblay Seaweed Cultivation Workshop, Halifax, January 26 th 2017
The Northeast Aquaculture Conference & Exposition (NACE) was created in 1998 by the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center with the goal of bringing together producers, service providers, vendors, researchers, students and managers from across the northeast region to discuss pressing issues and relevant research on aquaculture.
Conference topics Shellfish Genetics and Breeding Public Health Social Aspects of Aquaculture Biofouling Control Aquaculture and the Environment Aquaculture Management Finfish Farming IMTA Aquaculture Education Aquaculture Policy Forum Shellfish Biology Shellfish Husbandry Seaweed Farmers Forum Shellfish Health Kelp Farming Instrumentation for Site Evaluation Shellfish Theft Deterrence Ocean Acidification Shellfish Disease Diagnostics 2 full days 5 concurrent sessions!
Rapid industry updates of each states Maine New Hampshire Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New York New Jersey Delaware Seaweeds in most of the states
What is the state of seaweed cultivation in each states? Maine Lots of initiatives on shellfish farms Wild harvest > cultivation Still work on product development and market New Hampshire Kelp for beer! Brewery making and selling beer internationally they want more cultivated kelp!!! Rhode Island 9 sites for kelp Connecticut They have seaweed cultivation Have to develop processing tech. + products = sell mostly fresh kelp
Seaweed farmers workshop: the future of seaweed cultivation Seth Barker & Paul Fisher Owner of seaweed farm Maine Fresh Sea Farm Dr. Susan H. Brawley University of Maine Adam St. Gelais Assistant research scientist University of New England
Susan H. Bralwey Working on development of seaweed cultivation Interest started in 80 s during a trip in China to work with seaweed Seeding technology for kelp, dulse and laver (nori) Be careful with large scale monoculture Disease, invasive species Also, can t base a successful seaweed industry that rely only on 1 sp. If we want to have large scale seaweed cultivation, need to: Big $ support from Government Have a cooperative structure
Susan H. Bralwey
Adam St. Gelais Brood stock: - Biosecurity - Breeding and strain selection - Preservation of population dynamics (natural populations) Seaweed cultivation in Alaska: Kelp seed can only be out planted to farm site within 50 km of brood stock location.
Adam St. Gelais Public health and seaweed for human consumption: Should regulation be the same than for bivalves?
Peter Fisher Maine Fresh Sea Farm: - Year 5 of growth - 12 000 pounds this year (hopefully) - Farm Certified organic - Own seaweed hatchery (since 3 yr) - Sugar kelp + winged kelp - Dulse: cut pieces from wild and grow on farm - Coop with neighbor seafood processing plant process seaweed - Sell seaweed fresh directly to restaurant in Portland area
Peter Fisher Observations/challenges: - Not always a good growth/crop every yr - Variability in kelp phenotype - Some years kelp with long stipe (biomass lost for sell) - Restaurants: - lots of interest but low volume - Sell mostly fresh products - Shelf life varies with sp (kelp = 1 wk; dulse +1 wk) - Lots to develop (product, market, people education, etc.)
Future directions Cooperative, diversified seaweed cultivation industry model Genetic questions: brood stock, natural populations, selection, etc. Regulations for seaweed for human food consumption Product development Market development Education of people about seaweed (as food) How much volume needed to make $ of seaweed Upcoming position to address needs of seaweed industry: What is happening post-harvest!
Kelp farming session Development of simple, low cost, adjustable farm system for sea vegetable cultivation in Maine.
Kelp farming session Trials with unique phenotype of kelp Saccharina latissma
Kelp farming session Public health and seaweed for human consumption
Kelp farming session Processing technologies and impact on seaweed properties
Lot is going on regarding seaweed cultivation industry development. Looking forward to see how it will evolve in next 5 years. Let s learn from their experience (good and bad)!