Seaweed nursery course is first of its kind
In a first for the UK, the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in Oban has delivered a training course on the early stages of seaweed cultivation.
The course, the first of its kind in the UK, took the participants through the practical skills required and highlighted important considerations such as building a nursery, biosecurity and selective breeding.
It was run by SAMS Enterprise, the commercial arm of SAMS, through its Seaweed Academy programme. All eight places available were filled, with one participant coming from as far as Portugal.
Seaweed Academy project manager Jenny Black said: “There has been a lot of interest in this course, which we devised based on industry demand.
“We have run our Seaweed Academy courses for the past three years, but there was no training available that got into the detail required to allow people to establish their own nursery – a crucial stage of seaweed cultivation.
“Using expertise from our research at SAMS, as well as our own nursery staff, we’ve been able to offer a comprehensive course that will hopefully boost this part of the seaweed farming value chain.”
Participants came from a diverse range of backgrounds and industries, including prospective farmers, researchers and those who already run nurseries.
Some were able to attend thanks to scholarships funded by WWF-UK and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).
Beth Marshall of Câr y Môr, Wales’ first regenerative seaweed and shellfish farm, said: “The course was really interesting and I have learned a lot to take back to Wales with me. For example, it’s clear that biosecurity and taking time to do things are key to the success of a seaweed nursery.
“I ran a nursery before, but without much experience, so it’s great to see how the experts do it and learn where I was going wrong before! We will be setting up a new nursery at Câr-y-Môr, which we hope will support new seaweed farms in Wales.”
The Michael Uren Foundation (a family-run philanthropic trust) and wildlife charity WWF-UK funded the course development, while some of the places on the course were funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
SAMS Enterprise plans to run the course on an annual basis, updating course content based on the research ongoing at SAMS.
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