SeaMark, a consortium led by Faroese seaweed farmer Ocean Rainforest and comprising 25 international, cross-disciplinary partners has been awarded a 9-million EUR grant from the Horizon Europe development fund “to upscale seaweed production and market applications across Europe,” Ocean Rainforest announced.
“Unlocking the potential of algae for a thriving European blue bioeconomy,” as per its official description, the project for which the EU funds are granted “aims to lay the foundations for an entirely new European maritime industry to meet growing demand for seaweed-based products and attract investment from multiple sectors,” the announcement dated June 13th further read.
“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,” the seaweed farmer stated.
“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), we’re told.
“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 justifying large-scale seaweed cultivation as a bioremediation tool and key element of a new circular bioeconomy.”
Ocean Rainforest is a pioneering ‘blue growth’ company located in the Faroe Islands and California in the United States, growing seaweed for feed, food and cosmetic producers, collaborating with a number of international partners. Their purpose is “to improve people’s wellbeing and to leave a unique legacy to our blue planet” through “applying science, innovation and expertise to grow premium quality seaweed for sale and research.”