The consortium’s goal for the four-year SeaMark project is to upscale circular ocean seaweed cultivation and land-based integrated multitrophic aquaculture systems, and develop novel processing methods involving fermentation and biotransformation.
by Katrin Gregersen
A consortium led by Ocean Rainforest, comprising 25 international, cross-disciplinary partners, has been awarded a €9 million Horizon Europe grant to upscale seaweed production and market applications across Europe. The project intends to lay the foundations for an entirely new European maritime industry to meet the growing demand for seaweed-based products and attract investment from multiple sectors.
For the first time, SeaMark (short for “Seaweed-Based Market Applications”) will exploit the full spectrum of products derived from seaweeds on an unprecedented scale — from medicine to cosmetics, human food, and animal feed.
Seaweeds are among the fastest growing crops on the planet, requiring only sunlight, carbon dioxide and naturally occurring nutrients to grow. They are also rich in bioactive compounds with various medicinal, nutritional, and biomechanical properties.
During the four-year project, SeaMark’s multi-disciplinary team will develop 12 innovative products with direct market applications, predominantly based on cultivated sugar kelp (S. latissima). These include a bio-packaging material, a meat replacer and feed supplements with pre- and probiotic functional ingredients to improve digestibility, conversion ratios, and overall sustainability and productivity of conventional livestock feeds.
Alongside market applications, SeaMark will quantify ecosystem services provided by seaweed farms, contributing to a body of evidence. This is intended to justify large-scale seaweed cultivation as a bioremediation tool and key element of a new circular bioeconomy.
The project leader, Ocean Rainforest, is a pioneering blue growth company located in the Faroe Islands and California. They grow seaweed for feed, food, and cosmetic producers, and collaborate with several international partners.
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