The 10 Point Action Plan 2030: first step towards the Seaweed Industry Roadmap
2023-09-26
Last week several members attended the Sector Session on the Seaweed Industry Roadmap. A very useful and constructive session with a lot of good input from the participants, all members of North Sea Farmers.
During the Sector Session we explained the background and purpose of the (to be developed) NSF Seaweed Industry Roadmap and why it can help us as an industry. We also presented the draft 10-Point Action Plan for 2030 as a first concrete contribution to this roadmap. These are important and urgent points that we already want to put on the agenda when representing the industry toward stakeholders. During the sector session there was a lively discussion on the importance and urgency of each of the items.
Aim of the roadmap
The Seaweed Industry Roadmap is intended for all of us involved in the Seaweed Industry in the Greater North Sea Region. It should reflect a commonly accepted storyline and ambitions for 2050, where we are today, what we need to get to 2050 and how we aim to arrive at our 2050 ambitions. NSF will use this roadmap to represent the industry towards stakeholders (read: investors, policy makers, general public, consumers & b2b). NSF Members can also use this roadmap towards their business partners & stakeholder to explain and demonstrate that there is a plan for the future of the seaweed industry.
What is needed: 10 Action Points for 2030
These are 10 important and urgent action points that can directly support the development of the seaweed industry. NSF will put these action points forward towards stakeholder of the seaweed industry. You are free to do the same as NSF member or stakeholder. In addition, we will also use this list to support further dialogues with NSF members on relevance and implementation of these action points. Are you interested to participate in these dialogues but not yet a member, then send us a quick email and we'll help you out. You will find the whole document here: 10actionpoints2030_roadmapseaweedindustry_rev00_25sep23_eng.pdf.
1. Set a European (EU commission driven) target for the production of circular resources at sea
a. Create an incentive for EU/European countries to develop specific seaweed subsidy programs including multi-year (>10yr) exploitation subsidies for seaweed projects
b. For example: create an EU directive that requires a replacement of xx% of domesticly produced non-circular fossil or agricultural resources with local circular resources.
2. Encourage European countries to set up programmes to financially support exploitation (longterm) and innovation (short-term) of seaweed projects
a. Provide multi-year (>10yr) operating/exploitation subsidies for seaweed (farm) projects
b. This risk reduction measure helps project developers to attract funding and start more seaweed farm developments. These farms are essential for innovation and cost price reduction.
3. Communicate best practices on permitting and licensing procedures for seaweed farm operations throughout Europe
a. So countries may adopt best practices leading to more successful applications and more farms in Europe in less time
b. Also, governments are advised to include co-use as standard requirement in tenders for offshore wind farms, and
c. Finally, governments are advised to facilitate co-use projects with surveys, security measures, (financial) insurances and infrastructure
4. Work towards uniform European regulations on seaweed production and the 4 most important seaweed markets: food (ingredients), feed (additives), biostimulants (ingredients) and biobased materials.
5. Support research into validation of the ecosystem services of seaweed production & applications
a. so that the value of the seaweed economy becomes visible to policymakers, the market and consumers in terms of CO2 reduction, biodiversity & nature restoration and nitrogen absorption (or eutrophication).
6. More support from national government policy makers to help the seaweed industry developments:
a. Create more capacity at government ministries to directly support seaweed opportunities & challenges,
b. Collaboration with policy makers from existing industries is suggested as the emerging seaweed industry can provide solutions for agriculture, fisheries and fossil industries
7. Develop a central platform for sharing state-of-the-art scientific knowledge on seaweed cultivation, processing, and products, aiming for a fact-based overview to support the industry and its stakeholders
8. Stimulate the awareness of seaweed as a sustainable & local resource and the benefits of seaweed-containing products among market parties and consumers through marketing and communication.
9. Develop and communicate a clear positioning of locally and nature-inclusive grown seaweed in relation to imported or wild harvest seaweed.
10. Establish a European advisory committee of research and industry experts to identify state-of-the-art and promising developments to inform the industry and new subsidy programmes
Do you want to give feedback?
The presentation, the results of the poll inputs and their (initial) evaluation can be found on our knowledge database (available for NSF members only). If you have feedback on/suggestions for the 10 Action Points, feel free to share your those via this link.
