Developing an environmentally and economically sustainable sugar kelp aquaculture industry in southern New England: from seed to market

Thelong-termgoal of this proposed projectwas to promote development of a sustainable sugarkelp industry that can help revitalize working waterfronts, and increase employment andeconomic opportunities for seafood production, processing, and distribution services in SouthernNew England and New York. To achieve this goal, wehavetransfer cultivation techniques ofSaccharina latissima(sugar kelp) from academic laboratories to commercially viable farms,introduce processing techniques, and provide templates for business plans. An additional benefitof this studyare theecosystem servicesaffordedby sugar kelp farming. Kelp aquaculture willremove carbonandnitrogen(as well asphosphorus)from the marine ecosystem, and may beuseful to restore impacted natural communities of kelp by providing a natural source of seed.This study directly addressedtwo of NIFA’s four program priorities: Design of environmentallyand economically sustainable aquaculture production and Economic research for increasingaquaculture profitability. Supporting objectives to address these program priorities included1)expanding seedstock nurseries to providesustainable seedstock of sugar kelp to new growers; 2)transferring open water cultivation technologies to new sugar kelp growers; 3) developing amobile seaweed processing facility for fresh and frozen products; 4) providing market analysis, afinancialmodel, and a business plan template for sugar kelp; and 5) developing and completingeducational workshops and best management practices for all existing and potential sugar kelpgrowers in Southern New England and New York, as well as explaining this growing industry tothe general public.