Over the last 18 months there has been a rapid increase in interest in seaweed cultivation in Scotland’s inshore waters. Licence applications have been submitted for seaweed farms from Moray Firth to Argyll. To some observers this is the dawn of a sustainable form of aquaculture which could provide much-needed diversification of coastal employment, end the threat of excessive wild seaweed harvesting, grow crops which mitigate climate change, and if co-located with salmon farms absorb excess nutrient emissions. To others it is the next chapter in the industrialisation of Scotland’s inshore waters, and with individual seaweed farms possibly each covering hundreds of hectares, it could have adverse visual impacts, disrupt navigation, displace coastal fishing, and result in a range of environmental problems from shading of the seabed and loss of genetic diversity in wild seaweed stocks to the entanglement of cetaceans.
Irrespective of opinion, Scotland will have seaweed farms. The demand for seaweed products is growing fast. There are established markets for several cultivable seaweeds: for example, alginates from kelps which are used in pharmaceutical products and dulse which makes a high-end food supplement. There will also be new markets – for example for additives to livestock feeds or the production of bioplastics.’