1st National Seaweed Symposium
The first national Seaweed Symposium sponsored by 10 NOAA Sea Grant programs, brought together 120 seaweed stakeholders representing current and prospective farmers, regulators, federal agencies, processors, researchers, culinary professionals and non-profit groups from across the country. The group gathered to share information and better understand the current status, emerging needs and challenges, and realistic opportunities of the nascent domestic seaweed industry. Attendees were updated on the status of seaweed farming across the country and internationally, were provided with results of the national needs assessment, learned about seaweed products and the latest research during the Seaweed Showcase, and learned about farming techniques and challenges during the Farmers’ Forum. Symposium attendees then separated into the following diverse-sector topical Work Groups to collaboratively address common challenges identified in the needs assessment: Market Opportunities, Regulations, Post-harvest and Processing Infrastructure, and Production Systems. For a summary of the discussions, please refer to the Work Group section of the website.
For highlights from the National Seaweed Symposium, please read the following Connecticut Sea Grant article.
Photos from the Event
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Comments from Symposium attendees:
“I made fantastic connections during the Seaweed Symposium. Sea Grant really needs to have another one! ”
“We met a few farmers at the Symposium. Now we are working together to find ways to marketing our kelp together”
“I learned about Maine Seaweed Week! Such a great idea!”
“It was great to see the wide range of products that can be made out of seaweed. I came back with a lot of ideas!”
“We really appreciated the opportunity to network and learn from experts. Thank you for putting the Symposium together!”