Silje Forbord is Research Manager at SINTEF Oceans. Silje has 15 years' seaweed cultivation experience from land-based hatchery and field work, including integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA). She holds a PhD in cultivation of sugar kelp with focus on nitrogen uptake kinetics, growth characteristics and chemical composition.
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SINTEF Ocean is an independent research organisation based
in Norway, which over the past 15 years has conducted around 60 projects on
various aspects of seaweed cultivation and utilization.
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[08:30] Producing seaweed biomass that nobody wants to buy.
[09:25] The equipment you can’t buy in store
[10:20] How funding availability influences which research projects are pursued.
[12:35] Upscaling and why the seaweed industry is not profitable, yet.
[13:55] Need to pay more attention to finding the right location for seaweed farming.
[17:25] Coastal farming Vs. Offshore farming.
[20:50] Innovation needed to achieve upscaling.
[25:10] Cost is holding back faster progress.
[26:50] Market development has been overlooked.
[28:40] Year-round supply and diversification into different species.
[32:20] What can we learn from Asia? Is there enough collaboration?
[36:40] Seagriculture Conference EU.
[39:20] Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture.
[46:40] Areas where more research is needed.
[48:00] Final thoughts.
Useful Links:
SINTEF Ocean: Website, LinkedIn
Seagriculture Conferece EU – June 21st and 22nd 2023 in Trondheim, Norway. (Follow on LinkedIn)