The 24th International Seaweed Symposium will take place from Sunday 19th to Friday 24th of February 2013 in Hobart, Australia. With the theme ‘Seaweeds in a changing world’, the conference focusses on ongoing changes in seaweed aquaculture practices, industrial processing, future products and markets, local and global environmental change, and scientific advances. Those changes will reshape our understanding of how seaweeds function at all levels of organisation.
At the International Seaweed Symposium, Job Schipper and co-authors Javier Infante, Bert Groenendaal and Theo Verleun of SWD Connectors, will present on Scaling of seaweed cultivation: site selection and (bio)technical solutions for cost-effective farm operations.
Scaling of seaweed cultivation
Several projects have been initiated to develop seaweed cultivation rigs which allow moving further offshore. Most elementary however is the farm site selection to achieve year-round farming. In this talk we review recent scientific research work and complement this with our team experience. The site selection criteria will be discussed, ranging from oceanographic aspects and ecosystem impacts to nutrient supply. Important selection criteria, such as bio-fouling and nutrient supply will be discussed with respect to cultivation approach and yield. Solutions for cost effective, safe and robust offshore seaweed farming will be touched.