Within the past decade, Maine has emerged as a leader in U.S. seaweed production, with a growing number of commercial farms, significant developments in supply chain and markets, and increases in landings, investments, and infrastructure. Seaweed cultivation has been extensively explored as a zero-input agricultural crop (growing entirely from ambient nutrients and the marine environment); as well as an aquaculture product with environmental co-benefits to cultivation including improvement of local water quality by way of increasing dissolved oxygen, uptake of excess nutrients, and sequestration of carbon dioxide. Furthermore, marine resource infrastructure and markets in Maine and the U.S. are well positioned to incorporate these emerging species and products into revenue streams alongside traditional fisheries.
In 2010, Maine had a single kelp farm and an undeveloped supply chain, serving local markets and conducting preliminary investigations into value-added processing and products. A decade later, Maine has over 30 commercial kelp farms, 3 native kelp species under cultivation, exponential growth in acreage and landings (Figures 1, 2), diverse and expanding processing operations, and a viable supply chain. The rapid growth in Maine’s emerging kelp sector has been enabled by an organized permitting process, a well-established maritime workforce and infrastructure, and coupled processor-product producer businesses that contract kelp from farmers and work with wholesalers and retailers to reach end consumers. Continued research and investments in seaweed production systems, processing infrastructure and technology, and new markets are critical to advancing the emerging seaweed sector in Maine and the U.S.