Scottish seaweed farms could help spark jobs boom

The indications are that macroalgae, to give it its proper name, has the potential 
to become a major growth industry in Scotland, fuelling a jobs boom in coastal towns. 

Many fishermen are now supplementing their income by harvesting seaweed.

Rich in nutrients, seaweed contains many trace minerals that are said to heal the body and rejuvenate the skin.

Now found in everything from skincare to gin, studies are also underway into its potential use in cancer treatments.

While its biggest market is Asia, where millions of tonnes is grown and the scale of cultivation is visible from space, interest is growing across the UK and there are now 11 farms in Scotland with a licence to grow seaweed.

The Herald was invited to visit the country’s first, near Oban, a trial site launched by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) which is also home to a dedicated seaweed academy that has recently been bolstered by £400,000 of UK government funds.

It is the day after warnings have been issued for Storm Barra so there are concerns about our journey from Glasgow by road and boat but they do not materialise.

Loch Linne is calm and mirror-like, with clear views of the snow capped mountains and Isles of Mull and Coll.

Our captain, Struan Smith, who runs Coastal Connections, is taking us on the short ten-minute trip to the farm. 

His busy Summer season of tourist trips is largely finished  but he will still be in great demand in the winter months. After returning us to dry land, close to Dunstaffnage Castle,  he will be called out to deliver help to Coll, where there is a power cut.

The seaweed is grown on lines which sit just below the surface of the water. A one hectare (2.4 acres) site, such as this one near Lismore, would be able to produce 100 tonnes.

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Although wild seaweed harvesting is common, farming like this is is still relatively new.

Dr Adrian MacLeod, the marine biologist who manages the farm, hauls a long strand of sugar kelp (Saccharina Latissima in Latin) out of the icy water. 

Seeded in October, the brown fronds are already flourishing.

“Seaweed aquaculture has been practised for over a century now,” he says. “We can use the raw materials of seaweed for a range of products, everything from food to animal feed, to cosmetics and energy.

“What we are doing here at the seaweed farm is to create the methods needs to cultivate a range of commercially important species.

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“We are working with the natural ecosystem - we are not adding anything to the water, we are just growing the seaweed within a farm  environment so that allows us to control the quality of the product and control the life cycle of the species that we are cultivating.”

Globally, the seaweed farming industry is estimated to be worth around $15 billion per annum. However, most of this activity is in Asia and there is huge growth potential in Europe, with a growing demand for seaweed from gourmet restaurants to livestock feeds.

Seaweed farming has a low carbon footprint, using no fresh water and with minimal land-based infrastructure.

Dr MacLeod said there is a need to avoid harvesting from natural seaweed communities which are “incredibly important ecosystems”.

“As we scale up and meet some of those larger scale applications such as energy and animal feed we can’t be relying on naturally hand harvested seaweed.

“Harvesting in balance with the ecosystem can work and we have several companies in Scotland which hand harvest their seaweed in a sustainable way.

“It is a really resilient habitat, we’ve all seen the storm-force kelp cast on the shore and we’ve used that for years in crofting to improve the soil and grow potatoes.

“The global market is dominated by Asia. 

“In places like China and South Korea they grow seaweed on a huge scale. If we take one species, Laminaria japonica, there is the equivalent of 24million tonnes grown annually.

“They are using very rudimentary systems for that that require a lot of labour. 

“Because of the cost of labour in this country, I think it’s important to mechanise the industry so that it will allow us to become competitive.”

He believes the primary use for seaweed going forward will be in food. 

A seasoning produced by Edinburgh based Mara Seaweed is increasingly being used by chefs as a healthy alternative to salt that is rich in fibre, potassium, magnesium and iodine, a deficiency that is more common in women and can affect the thyroid.

Severely dyslexic as a child, Dr MacLeod latched on to the sciences in secondary school in Edinburgh and his interest in biology grew.  

He comes out three or four times a week in busy periods to monitor the site, measure growth rate and conduct experiments before the seaweed is harvested in early June.

“I believe it can be a lucrative industry,” he says. “I think there is a lot of innovation challenges that we need to overcome before we get there.

“It’s challenging working in marine farming and working here where we are constantly being battered by south westerly winds.

“I don’t think there is a quick buck to be made, there is a lot of graft involved but I believe it can produce jobs.”

An increasing number of skincare brands are incorporating seaweed into  products and reaping the rewards. 

Lewis-based brand ishga experienced a 70% growth in revenue between 2019 and 2021 and has just opened its first brick and mortar store at Harrods Beauty in the new St James Quarter in Edinburgh.

Hebridean seaweed contains vitamins, minerals and natural antioxidants which are said to promote healthier skin.

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“That’s the interesting thing about seaweed,” says Dr Macleod. “When the tide goes out that seaweed is going from a very controlled environment to high UVA and high temperature, high dessication stress and so the very mechanisms which have evolved to protect the seaweed are also the antioxidants, the anti-ageing and anti-cancer bioactives that can be extracted from seaweed.

“There are compounds in seaweed that are showing promising results in terms of controlling cancer cells. This is ongoing research we are looking at.

“I think we could see pharmaceuticals from seaweed but it’s important to also use the waste streams that we would generate from that.

"We could extract the high-value bioactives and also use the lower-value products for animal feed or energy.”

Scientist Rhianna Rees manages the Seaweed Academy, which offers advice to start-ups, trains workers and shares the latest research to help businesses develop.

Her university thesis was titled Seaweed is Sexy and she eats it “pretty much every day” so she’s keen to encourage more of the public to incorporate it into their diet.

She says the umami taste will compliment strong flavour such as lemon, garlic and chilli.

“It’s a nutritional sea sponge for the ocean, it helps rebalance this delicate ecosystem, it helps with any over-use of fertiliser, it helps to balance that.

“It’s also really good as biofuel, it’s great for cattle feed, it’s a low carbon alternative to so many food sources and it’s also really nutritious and good for you.

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“I buy dried seaweed and use it as a seasoning product, you can eat fresh seaweed off the beaches. Pretty much every species is edible, you are not going to get poisoned.”

Iain Stewart, UK Government Minister for Scotland, said the cultivation of seaweed has “amazing” economic potential.

“Scotland is at the forefront of this growing industry and that’s why the UK Government has invested more than £400,000 through the Community Renewal Fund in the Scottish Association for Marine Science’s bold and ambitious plans to create a Seaweed Academy.

“The academy will bring jobs, researchers and investment - levelling up the Oban area while developing a truly sustainable industry with many practical and exciting applications.”