D. de Groot,, Sea farming in the North Sea, a future perspective?

The potential of mass production of seaweed offshore, January 2011, Van Hall Larenstein, Leeuwarden.

Sea farming in the North Sea, a future perspective?

The potential of mass production of macro algae offshore

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Daphne de Groot, Student Integrated Coastal Zone Management Van Hall Larenstein How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.(Arthur. C. Clarke) On a planet where there is more ocean then land and a growing population the production on land is reaching its limits. There is an ocean full of recourses with an enormous potential. The time has come to start farming at sea.
A significant part of the agro production should be moved to the sea if we want to have enough food to feed earths population in the future. Growing population and with that the growing demand for food, the space on land for agriculture is coming towards an end. In 2050 the estimated world population would have grown from the current 6, 8 billion to 9.2 billion people. (M. Rosenberg, 2011) If there is no change in our production method and our consumption pattern in 2050 we will need two earths to meet the demand for food, water and energy. (W. Brandenburg, 2010 ) Today, more than 800 million people worldwide are suffering from hunger. (C. Clover, 2008) If in 2050 the earth has to meet the many demands from its growing population something has to change in our production methods, or we have to expand our production to other locations. It seems the time has come to start agro production offshore. So far the oceans have been a place for hunting (fish) and gathering (oil and gas) but the times are changing. Fish farming is a growing industry and energy parks are being built offshore, primary production of food seems the logical next step. The biggest advantage sea farming has compared to farming at land is that the sea is three-dimensional. Every square meter can be used multiple times. For example nowadays every square meter in the Dutch part of the North sea is used 2.4 times. (C. Heip, 2011) Regarding sea weed farming this advantage translates to a double or maybe even triple layered construction. On the top layer green algae could be produced and underneath that red or brown algae can be cultivated. In this way the energy from the sun is optimally used. Due to the three dimensional aspect of production at sea, sea farming could be combined with other functions. For example combining a sea weed farm with a fish nursery or a energy park. (M. Wiersma, 2011) Or when the sea weed farm would be located near the shore it could function as a part of the coastal defense. The sea weed would act as natural wave breaker, reducing the energy of the waves, literally building with nature. (W. Brandenburg) Of course there are many challenges when starting an experimental project as sea farming. The oceans and its currents are object of many studies and much is still to learn. How can steady installations be build at a long distance from the shore? How can the installations be protected to prevent them from drifting? These are questions that still needs answering. (C.

Heip, 2011) However due to our long history of offshore industry many lessons have been learned in anticipation. There is already a lot of knowledge about the seabed morphology, forces in sea, mining and logistics. With this knowledge and the endless possibilities sea weed offers, the first sea farms are just a matter of time. Seaweed offers a great amount of possibilities and is used in many products. The production of sea weed is not a new idea, but something that has been done in South Asia for thousands of years. (J. Wald, 2010) Seafood extracts can be found in product varying from tooth paste to pharmaceutical products as compresses and balsams. (Ceja EU, date unkown)But sea weeds are mainly used for human consumption, for example in sushi but also as gelling agents in sauces, ice cream, dressing and health capsules. In addition it is a popular product in the vegetarian kitchen because of its high amount of protein. Because of the high amount of protein scientist are considering sea weed or macro algae are as a possible replacement for soy products. When produced on a high scale the production of soy products appears to be unsustainable. It will be a big opportunity for the food industry when seaweed can be sustainable produced on a large scale. (J. Reith et al, 2005 ) In addition to the many features seaweed is used for at the moment, it also has possibilities to create bio fuel. When sustainable produced seaweed can be used as a bio fuel we would be less dependable on limited recourses such as oil and gas. When seaweed is used as an element for bio fuel it could replace unsustainable production of bio fuel elsewhere which now replace food crops. In this way there would be more land available for food production. (J. Reith et al, 2005) And the most promising use of seaweed is that it probably can be used as a substitute for fish in fishmeal. The composition of sea weed is in such a way that the protein that can retracted from the weed is more or less similar to protein that is available in fish. Because of these properties it is likely that in the future fishmeal can be made from sea weed. This would be a major improvement for the environmental impact of fish farming. Fish farms now mainly use fishmeal that is made from wild captured fish as food for their fish. On an average every farmed fish has eaten twice its body weight in wild captured fish by the time its sold. It would be a huge step in the sustainability of the oceans when in the future fishmeal can be made from sustainable produced seaweed. (S. Ruizeveld de Winter, 2011) Sea weed farms are being developed in such a way to contribute towards a more sustainable future. The main contribution sea weed farming will deliver to a better environment is the use of nutrients who are in the water due to human activities at land. For example an significant of the nutrients in fertilizer ultimately ends up in the rivers and the ocean, but also other industries create and abundance of nutrients in the rivers. With the seaweed farms the water can be purified and the valuable nutrients can return in the production cycle. In addition, seaweed production can be seen as underwater forests where carbon dioxide is captured from the ocean. Since algae use photosynthesis for their energy, they take carbon dioxide out from the waters. It is a possibility that the sea weed farming can contribute to reducing the acidification of the oceans by taking carbon dioxide out of the water. (W. Brandenburg, 2011) Dependable on the use of the harvest algae this could reduce our ecological footprint. (C. Heip, 2011)

A high efficient production can be obtained when sea weed is produced in combination with fish farming and energy companies. (S. Strauch, 2011) A waste product from fish farming are nutrients and a waste product from energy companies who burn oil or gas is carbon dioxide. This in combination with the right temperature and salinity can produce huge amounts of sea weed. The potential of this sea weed farming is immense, the research towards this industry is still in progress but promising. (S. Ruizeveld de Winter, 2011) In a few decennia when the research about the seafarms is completed the first seafarms can be created at the open sea. A project of such size as seafarms should be managed in a sustainable way. A way to do this properly is the ecosystem management approach. This management approach is based on the fact that there is still a lack of knowledge about the ecosystem and that the management should be adaptive to changes in the system. When new information is available about the ecosystem the management can consider this information and adapt their management to that. The management of the seafarm system should be integrated in the coastal zone management of The Netherlands. This management considers the coastal zone as one large ecosystem where the management should be adaptive to that ecosystem. A key factor in this approach is the protection of the environment. Humans have the responsibility to consider the impact they have on the environment. (Kay & Alder, 2005) Before the building of a seafarm can begin an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required. Since the production of seaweed could have a low environmental impact and the potential purifying of effluence of the industries at land is promising the EIA shouldnt create much problems, and the first sustainable managed seafarms are only a few decades away. With a growing demand for food, energy and water its only logical to move a part of the production towards the sea. And sea farming has great possibilities to create a more sustainable production system. Nutrients and carbon dioxide are absorbed from the water reducing our ecological footprint. While with the products from seaweed can replace other less sustainable products. Sea farming in the North Sea, a promising future perspective!

References This essay is partly based on interviews with: Brandenburg, Willem; Januari 2011 - Senior researcher at Plant Research International (PRI) Cornelisse, Adrie; Januari 2011 Director Grovisco (Tarbot farm) Heip, Carlo; Januari 2011 Director NIOZ Ruizeveld de Winter, Sander; Januari 2011 Junior researcher Aquacultuur WUR Sebastian Strauch; Januari 2011 Student Coastal Zone Management (final thesis about Ulva lactuca ) Wald, Julia; Januari 2011 Assistent reseacher at Plant Research International (PRI) Wiersma, Marten; Januari 2011 Gedeputeerde Province Zeeland

 Wijfels, Ren; Januari 2011 - Prof.dr. at Wageningen University, Bioprocess Engineering Group Literature Brandenburg, W; 2010 Wat komt er kijken bij de zeeboerderij? Wageningen UR - Een powerpoint presentatie gegeven op 3 november 2010 in Leeuwarden. CEJA- European Council For Young Farmers An internet document concerning recourses of the sea http://www.ceja.educagri.fr/en/enseignant/livret6/pechen_2.pdf Clover, C; April 2008 Food shortages: how will we feed the world? Global shortages mean wheat is now is in high demand; Internet article by The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3340417/Food-shortages-how-willwe-feed-the-world.html last viewed 19-01-11 Kay & Alder, 2005 Robert Kay and Jaqueline Alder, Coastal planning and management, 2nd edition published in 2005 Reith, J.H., E.P. Deurwaarder, K. Hemmes, A.P.W.M. Curvers, P. Kamermans, W. Brandenburg & G. Zeeman 2005, Grootschalige teelt van zeewier in combinatie met offshore windparken in de Noordzee, Energy Commision of the Netherlands - http://edepot.wur.nl/120118 Rosenberg, M; Januari 2011 Current world population and world population growth since the year one. Internet article - http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/worldpopulation.htm last viewed 19 -01-11 Wald, J; May 2010; Evaluatiestudie naar mogelijkheden voor grootschalige zeewierteelt in het zuidwestelijke Deltagebied, in het bijzonder de Oosterschelde; Plant Research International onderdeel van Wageninen UR; Rapport 341http://www.wur.nl/NR/rdonlyres/2501BE42-5B74-4443-A0B6C04A17F1E2E8/109628/Rapport_341_binnenwerkKLEIN.pdf Wageningen UR, Brandenburg Willem. Zeewierteelt heeft de toekomst, een flyer die uitgegeven wordt op 14 februari 2011 in Den Helder op Zeewierensymposium. .