Reflecting on Seaweed Days + Seaweed Farming 101 Available Now!
It has been a few months since the first Seaweed Days festival was put on by Cascadia Seaweed and we are still reflecting on all that we learned. We found the festival to be an incredibly inspiring week that brought together many passionate, innovative, and knowledgeable people in the world of seaweed. Throughout the week, the fascinating nature of algae was brought to light as we saw that seaweeds can be used for a multitude of purposes from food and materials, to carbon sequestration and habitat restoration. We saw that seaweed provides hope for a bright future where a climate-positive seaweed industry can support a growing blue economy and address pressing climate issues. It became clear by the end of the week that there are many people working hard to build a strong seaweed sector that benefits the planet and the blue economy, and they want us all on board.
Speakers from a diverse range of backgrounds brought their knowledge and experience to Seaweed Days, inspiring the attendees each day to view seaweed in new and exciting ways. We heard from Indigenous leaders, scientists, business owners, government representatives, and various organizations that are working closely with seaweed in Canada and around the world. If you haven’t already seen some of the Seaweed Days festival, most of the free sessions can be found on the Cascadia Seaweed YouTube channel for anyone to view!
While each and every session was enlightening and interesting, below are some of the highlights:
Indigenous Partnerships:
We had the great pleasure of hearing from Larry Johnson, President of Nuu-Chah-Nulth Seafood Development Corp, who spoke about building relationships and the future of seafood. Strong relationships must be created between industry and Indigenous peoples and when we work together making respectful connections, a committed and lasting partnership can be fostered. Larry spoke about Nuu Chah Nulth Seafood Ltd becoming the thriving company it is today and launching their own seafood brand, Gratitude Seafood through implementation of their core values: Hish-uk ts'a-walk, everything is one; Iisaak, a greater respect with caring; and Uu-a-thluk, to take care of using a modern approach.
Carbon Capture
A topic many people are very excited about, carbon capture, was addressed by Howard Gunstock from Carbon Kapture and Megan Reilly Cayten from Oceans 2050 who both spoke in detail about the potential of seaweed to capture massive amounts of marine and atmospheric carbon. Carbon Kapture has been working hard to scale up seaweed carbon capture systems, including addressing permitting and financial barriers and pushing for education and outreach to help people know the ways they can participate in the journey to climate solutions. Oceans 2050 is aiming to quantify the amount of carbon that is sequestered under seaweed farms in relatively protected areas, ultimately leading to a robust market for carbon. Megan emphasized that the demand for seaweed will need to grow rapidly to match the carbon capture goals and that new technologies for long term monitoring of carbon stocks will be vital. With a better understanding of the carbon exchange in seaweed farms, there can even be steps towards farm design and processes that can create a carbon-optimized farm! Seaweed can create a carbon negative industry where growth, production, and consumption can be good for the planet.
Food:
Throughout the week there were several opportunities to witness the creative and delicious ways that seaweed can make its way onto our plates. The Sysco Chefs panel featured beautiful food created by chefs in BC using everyday ingredients to create delicious dishes that everyone can enjoy! The various flavours that exist in local seaweed species can be explored and used in so many different styles of food. The chefs discussed the great features of kelp in being not only delicious, but full of nutrients that can ease the pressures on animal products. We saw beef tartar and juicy burgers, oyster mushroom calamari, a plant based appetizer and matcha seaweed ice cream. These mouth-watering examples of seaweeds used in food get us so excited to get experimenting in the kitchen with seaweed!
Beyond the chef panel, Seaweed Days featured seven amazing, talented chefs inspiring us to get creative in the kitchen with seaweed. Each day, one of the guest chefs created a mouth-watering meal from seaweeds provided by Cascadia including sugar kelp and Alaria. We saw such creations as spring soup, fire-roasted oysters with sugar kelp miso mayo, kelp burgers with crispy smoked kelp, seaweed salmon with sweet potato & roasted pepper “concasse”, seaweed omelette, kelpie rub & mignonette, seaweed pizza, and roasted halibut with seaweed bourride. Each culinary demo is available on YouTube to offer a spark of creativity in the kitchen.
Regenerative Business Practice:
Karine from Blue Stark eloquently described the need for a shift to regenerative economy and socially and environmentally responsible practises in business. She discussed how the current ecosystem of global business is set in a destructive, linear system that shifts the consequences of destructive systems onto vulnerable people and the environment. Businesses need to reflect on the “8Ps” - Purpose, Planet, People, Partnerships, Profits, Performance, Policies, Passion. Businesses can’t rely on incentives or external regulators to ensure such points are prioritized. Karine challenges all of us to reimagine business practices to ensure a regenerative model is realized. A fear or scarcity mindset in business is not sustainable and we can create a new narrative in the business world. Collaborations, partnerships and holding each other accountable are crucial to creating a new narrative in the business world that works for people and the planet and we must start conversations in all levels of business and government to make it happen. The regenerative leaders of today have a responsibility to push this forward, but one player cannot do it all. There must be many people at the table! Karine's idea of regenerative was synonymous with generosity. We love the idea of giving back through regenerative practices.
Seaweed Farming 101:
Lastly, a major highlight of the Seaweed Days festival was The Seaweed Farming 101 workshop hosted by Cascadia Seaweed. The workshop attracted over 100 passionate, curious, and innovative people from across BC and beyond to explore the possibilities of seaweed. Cascadia’s workshop laid out the multifaceted reality of farming seaweed and answered many critical questions that arise for those in early stages of cultivation. Presentation topics ranged from seaweed biology and reproduction to farm design and acquiring business loans. It laid a pathway for those looking to pursue seaweed farming as a part of their career. Industry experts, government, scientists, and Cascadia’s talented team came together to outline the essentials for any aspiring seaweed farmer. The hosts and speakers provided valuable insight into the early stages of farm start up while maintaining true optimism that seaweed farming is an incredible way to work with the ocean. The course delivered a realistic and accessible road map for the fundamentals of seaweed farming, empowering participants to gain an understanding of the many moving parts in an operation and visualize themselves as successful seaweed farmers
Are you interested in seaweed farming?
The PSIA is excited to be offering the Seaweed Farming 101 Workshop for purchase on our website at www.seaweedindustry.ca/purchaseable-resources. Click HERE for more information.
Seaweed Days was a fantastic collection of topics and speakers that provided a genuine view of the seaweed sector as it exists today in BC and beyond. It is almost overwhelming to see such potential within seaweed, however as we heard so many passionate people say, the possibilities are a reason for excitement and hope. We are already looking forward to next year’s festival! Thank you to everyone who was involved in making Seaweed Days a reality!
