Europe's big plans for seaweed

Seaweed, the next green crop - 19th September 2022

Seaweed isn’t the first crop you think of when it comes to farming. However, it's the next big business in sea farming in the North Sea.

Seaweed has always been a popular ingredient in soups and other dishes. It's also found in skin and beauty products. It's used by farmers in fertilisers and for feeding farm animals. It can be used as biofuel and an environmentally friendly packaging, a good replacement for plastics.

Supporters of a European seaweed industry believe it could already be worth $40 billion. They're convinced this could rise to $95 billion by 2027. Today, 97 percent of the world's seaweed comes from Asia, while less than one percent is grown in Europe.

The head of Seaweed for Europe, Adrien Vincent is positive about the future of the seaweed business in Europe. He claims that there are "many social and environmental benefits."

So far, the European Union has spent $277 million on seaweed farming projects. Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands have already started producing seaweed. Other countries are also keen on starting. The Dutch government has already arranged for 400 square kilometres of water space to farm seaweed.

Environmentalists aren't fans of large seaweed farming projects. They're concerned about the harmful effect it will have on sealife. Too much seaweed will make it harder for larger mammals to find the food that they feed on.

Joost Wouters is the founder of The Seaweed Company, he still thinks high levels of seaweed production is the way of the future. He said that his aim is to produce a lot of seaweed quickly. He thinks seaweed farming will benefit the society, the economy and the environment.