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AQUACULTURE WITH AN INNOVATION SECTOR
A POSITIVE IMPACT Water soluble or edible innovative packaging (Not-
pla, FlexSea…), biostimulants (Climate Foundation),
Founded in 2020, the Kelp Forest Foundation stu- a commercial website to develop the seaweed mar-
dies the environmental impact of the first giant kelp ket (Placedesalgues.fr), start-up accelerator (Katapult
farm, deployed off the coast of Namibia according to Ocean)… Pioneers presented their concept to the
a strict ecological protocol. Training local scientists, participants of Seaweed Day.
the Foundation uses 4 distinct methods, including
bioacoustics and environmental DNA, to analyse the
biodiversity of the site, as giant kelp can provide a A COALITION
habitat for some 800 species.
FOR FOOD SECURITY
Based on the data collected on the Great Barrier
Reef, an endangered ecosystem, the Australian The lack of international regulations in terms of food
Seaweed Institute identified seaweed farming as a security is a critical point for the development of the
solution for the future and has launched a large-scale seaweed market. The meeting urges cooperation and
impact study. “Currently, seaweed farms are conside- brings together today speakers from the seaweed in-
red first and foremost as rendering an environmental dustry from 70 member countries. “Everything has to
service, through carbon sequestration or methane be based on science, we don’t want to repeat the
emission reduction, before being considered a com- mistakes we made with land farming. Science is the
mercial service: we have changed our approach”, locomotive of the global coalition for food and envi-
says Jo Kelly, Director of the Institute. ronmental security which brings together 70 member
countries”, confirms Vincent Doumeizel, Ocean Advi-
sor for the United Nations Global Compact, Director of
the Food Programme at the Lloyd’s Register Founda-
tion in London.

The coalition also identified certain risks for producers,
as explained by the Director of the Safe Seaweed
Coalition, Professor at CNRS, Philippe Potin: “The key
concern is hidden content, such as arsenic, which
prevents us from putting these products on the
market, or issues relating to the introduction of new
species and ecosystem disturbances”. To harmonise
approaches, the coalition has established a protocol.

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