Can kelp farming make the world a better place? Around the globe, seaweed aquaculture is booming, with everyone from government officials to Jeff Bezos jumping on board. The industry is taking off on the west coast of North America, where plans for new kelp farms are popping up everywhere. Advocates tout seaweed farming as a solution to hunger, poverty, greenhouse gas emissions, and the degradation of ocean ecosystems. But so far, evidence is thin. Many questions remain.
Join Rebecca Martone, marine ecologist and executive director of the Ocean Decade Collaborative Center for the Northeast Pacific, and expert panelists for an engaging discussion on kelp farming, its promises and pitfalls. They’ll cover what we know about the potential environmental and social impacts of seaweed aquaculture—including creating fish habitat, combating climate change, and generating revenue for coastal communities—as well as what’s still unknown.
Date: Today, April 11th
When: 2:30pm EDT
Registration: Click here.
Event Speakers
Dr. Jennifer Clark is a phycologist and the chief science officer at Cascadia Seaweed, the largest kelp cultivator in Canada. There, she oversees research and development as well as the production of kelp in seven ocean farms.
Dune Lankard is an Eyak Athabaskan fisher, activist, and founding president of Native Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that empowers Alaska Native peoples to preserve endangered habitats on their ancestral homelands through initiatives such as kelp farming.
Dr. Nichole Price is a marine ecologist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine, where she studies the eco-physiology of seaweeds, how they cycle carbon and nutrients in the ocean, and their potential role in mitigating coastal acidification and climate change.
Participants will have the opportunity to share their perspectives and ask the panelists questions.
Hosts
Hakai Magazine is the only journalism outlet to focus entirely on the science and societies of the world’s oceans and coastlines. Founded in 2015 in Victoria, British Columbia, the magazine has more than 300,000 monthly readers from across the globe. Our mandate is to foster a global conversation about coasts—the places where most people live—and we publish all of our stories exclusively online, without paywalls or ads. The magazine is part of the Tula Foundation, an independent charitable foundation based in Canada.
The Tula Foundation’s Ocean Decade Collaborative Center for the Northeast Pacific convenes conversations among knowledge holders, scientists, practitioners, and community members in the Northeast Pacific region. We highlight timely topics and advances in ocean science through the lens of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, grounded in the interests and priorities of coastal communities.
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