There are also geographic and species limitations within the seaweed industry. Though there are more than 12,000 species of seaweed, just five account for 95% of all cultivated seaweed. The lack of species diversity makes seaweed aquaculture more vulnerable to shocks like severe weather events and disease, an issue that Alleway wrote about in another paper published last year. Additionally, it limits the potential applications of seaweed, as different species have different characteristics.
A lack of geographic diversity is just as much of a problem, with 98% of farmed seaweed coming from Asia. Expansion on other continents will be necessary to meet environmental goals; however, in many parts of the world, there is a lack of processing and distribution infrastructure, training, and data, which is why TNC is working to develop global resources and tools necessary to advance sustainable seaweed aquaculture.
This month, TNC and Scitech Environmental Consulting released a new global model, the first of its kind, that allows the user to enter seaweed farm and product information to estimate kelp production, associated farm emissions, the potential for in-water marine carbon sequestration and nutrient removal, and the amount of carbon emissions avoided through chosen seaweed replacement products. Aligning with previous reports, the model shows how farming seaweed can help with carbon emissions reductions goals when used as a replacement for more carbon-intensive products, depending on market prices and demand.
