Seaweed predicted to enhance aquaculture sustainability and target food security

08 Feb 2024 --- In a recent study, a team of international researchers have highlighted seaweed as a promising candidate to bolster global food security. Recognized as an increasingly favored ingredient worldwide, seaweed is also becoming a solution to meet the future nutritional demands.

Published on Earth’s Future, the latest study shows that seaweed is a resilient food source, and its potential to address food demand in crises hinges on its ability to thrive in diverse environmental conditions.

The plant can even be cultivated in extreme scenarios like volcanic eruptions or nuclear wars, where sunlight may abruptly be reduced. Through global modeling focused on seaweed growth, researchers discovered its potential to meet up to 45% of global food demand within 9-14 months.

Florian Ulrich Jehn, a senior researcher at the Alliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters and a leading author of the research, tells Food Ingredients First: “It would be great if more countries considered adding seaweed to their diets. For those already doing so, increasing production would be beneficial.”

Florian Ulrich Jehn, senior researcher at the Alliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters.“Despite its popularity in Asian cuisine, seaweed hasn’t gained much traction globally. The upside is that we can pick up valuable insights from these Asian countries to learn how to grow seaweed and integrate it into our food system.”

Collaborative efforts and innovations
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has been advocating for more seaweed use for decades and is working with different stakeholders to further the potential of seaweed and microalgae contribution to global food security.

“Many seaweed species are rich in protein and vitamins. One notable advantage is their resilience and rapid growth, enabling large scale production in less than a year. This makes seaweed a promising contributor to global food security.”

Jehn anticipates that the expansion of seaweed cultivation worldwide will impact the global food system in such a way that seaweed could be adopted as an agriculture product in more countries, leading to increased food security both presently and in the face of unforeseen events.

The SeaMark project, funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe program, aims to upscale ocean seaweed production and market applications across the region. The project focuses on expanding circular seaweed cultivation and developing innovative seaweed-based products through novel processing methods such as fermentation and biotransformation.

Food companies are also recognizing the potential of seaweed as an abundant ocean resource. In Scotland, Seaweed Enterprises is spearheading efforts to cultivate a UK hub for sustainable seaweed production. This initiative acknowledges seaweed as a sustainable asset brimming with essential nutritional benefits.Seaweed farming can be intergraded into existing agricultural systems to enhance food security.

Enhancing aquaculture sustainability
Outside of human consumption, the seaweed industry can also contribute to the production of fertilizers, animal feed, and biofuels amidst climate threats.

At Aarhus University in Denmark, scientists, backed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, have found a method to use decomposing seaweed to mass produce marine enchytraeids.

The project has shown that feeding juvenile fish such as turbot, European flounder, and common whitefish with live enchytraeids can boost their growth rates by as much as 200% and lower overall mortality.

Flounder is recognized as an excellent source of protein; the seaweed worms serve as an ideal food source for fish farming, for they have good nutrient composition, contain high protein and lipid content and abundant long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.

By enhancing the survival rate of aquaculture products, the research offers a sustainable solution to mitigate the environmental risks and enhance food security associated with intensive fish farming practices.

By Sichong Wang