Seafields, a UK-based aquaculture company, declared on June 5 that a recent trial aimed at cultivating, regulating, and domesticating sargassum seaweed was a success.
The trial, which began last year at Mount Wynne Beach, is being billed as a scientific breakthrough by the corporation.
According to a press release from Seafields, the trial demonstrates that the company can proceed with plans to capture the seaweed and trap it in farms at sea before it becomes a nuisance to residents and tourists in coastal areas where the seaweed washes ashore.
“The coastal regions of the Caribbean are significantly affected by the large fraction that beach each season, not just because it banks up on the beaches, but also because it starts to degrade once it hits land, rotting and releasing greenhouse gases back into the atmosphere and hydrogen sulphide that can negatively impact wildlife and affect people with respiratory problems,” according to the release.
Seafields has announced plans to limit the quantity of Sargassum beaching by capturing the seaweed further out at sea before it reaches land via unique ‘catch and grow’ stationary aquafarms.
According to John Auckland, co-founder and CEO of Seafields, “…we needed to prove that by controlling the Sargassum in the barrier, we could also control and domesticate it by keeping the Sargassum alive.” Beyond that, if we can demonstrate that it will continue to thrive in this environment, we can capture additional CO2 and begin to manage supply to some of the companies that are sprouting up around Sargassum in the region.”
Dr. Franziska Elmer, Seafields Scientific Project Manager, who conducted the trial, stated that the seaweed not only grew but also attracted hundreds of young fish, including jacks, a favourite catch for local fishermen.
“As these fish grew and larger fish began to use the farm as a habitat, local fishermen began to use it as a spearfishing ground, allowing them to earn a living.”
Seafields’ ultimate goal is to make Sargassum a global solution for climate change by baling and sinking some of their crop in the deep ocean, far from the Caribbean islands, to remove billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, while also supplying seaweed to companies that require a steady supply of the algae in their manufacturing process.
