Ocean Forest

The driver behind Ocean Forest is the current deteriorating state of environment, linked to climate change, ocean acidification, population growth, food and water scarcity, constantly rising standards of living and energy demand. There is need to transform food production from resource depleting farming to methods sustainably utilising natural processes and cycles. The motto: to recycle what the earth has plenty of, in order to produce what it needs more of. Ocean Forest has three principal objectives: to reduce the environmental footprint of fish farming, to establish self-sufficient aquaculture producing animal and human nutrition products, and to study which new species would be suitable for the aquaculture industry. Algae and shellfish farming only utilises nutrients that are either already present in the ocean or are emissions from human activities, such as agriculture, cities or fish farming. Seaweeds (i.e. macroalgae) and mussels are cultivated along conventional fish farming, thus utilising nutrient emissions from fish production and lowering the impact of fish farms. Oceans absorb more than 20 million tons of CO2 each day, leading to acidification. CO2 is bound to algae and shellfish (via growth of their calcium carbonate shell). Ocean Forest aims to develop aquaculture facilities that via large-scale algae and mussel farming remove more CO2 than the production of biomass at the facility generates. The vision is to innovate, research, develop and implement new forms of more sustainable seafood production. Ocean Forest aims to be world-leading in research on integrated solutions and synergies between biology and technology. The target is to establish sustainable large-scale production of biomass by aquaculture along the Norwegian coast. The end products will be food, feed, and raw materials for, e.g., dietary supplements, medicine, fertilisers and biofuels. The company aims for both a smaller environmental footprint from production as well as higher output and lower costs of biomass production at sea. Production should be feasible at industrial scale and profitable. Other goals are to study CO2 and nutrient removal, how cultivation affects biodiversity, as well as synergies between the cultivated species and wild populations. Possible negative effects from integrated aquaculture are also assessed. As wild seaweed populations are essential to biodiversity, harvesting them could lead to biodiversity depletion. Aquaculture is thus a better option. Ocean Forest needed to create a functioning R&D system for sustainable, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture. The R&D process is continuously developing research results and experiences into new business concepts for commercial aquaculture, which utilises new solutions for biomass production on a large scale. Ocean Forest was established in 2014 in Bergen. The first mussels and seaweed plantation was launched in September 2014 at the first farm in Sotra, off the Hordaland coast. Ocean Forest addresses the environmental challenges of aquaculture, helps to remove CO2 from the ocean - and indirectly from the atmosphere - and creates economic value. It integrates a range of technological solutions, ecological cycles and natural interactions between species. Only native species are used so that no invasive species problems arise. Research is also done in cooperation with third parties. The Institute of Marine Research in Norway is looking into the environmental impacts of seaweed production. So far no negative impacts have been detected, but research is still ongoing. There are indications that seaweed farming can help to preserve marine biodiversity. Norwegian kelp forests provide shelter for approximately 3 million tons of fish fry (young fish). Among the beneficiaries are cleaner fish that naturally eat salmon lice. Large-scale cultivated macroalgae can thus provide shelter and support wild fish populations, while indirectly alleviating salmon lice problems. Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) is the first seaweed grown by Ocean Forest. It is used as a taste enhancer and flavouring. It could also be used like lettuce, but it has a very distinct taste. Seaweed is developed mainly into products for human nutrition. As a standalone case it is not profitable to use seaweed as biofuel. However, after extraction of wanted components, the rest of seaweed biomass can be used for biogas production. With the assistance of Pelagia Karmsund Fiskemel, Ocean Forest produces mussel meal, primarily from the soft mussel parts. Fish feed pellets, where a share of fishmeal is replaced by mussel meal, have been produced by the company EWOS. As especially blue mussels gather naturally occurring algal toxins, Ocean Forest collaborates with the National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES) in studying whether these algal toxins could have a negative impact on cultivated fish or fish consumers, when fish is fed with mussel meal. As the R&D is still ongoing, most of the results are preliminary or estimations of expected impacts. Success Indicators Reliable methods to cultivate and utilise seaweed have already been found. A commercial seaweed facility is going to start operating in autumn 2018 - one year prior to the original target. Tests with fish feed containing mussel meal have measured fish appetite, growth and survival. Results are promising: mussel meal has a high protein content and is suitable for replacing some of the fishmeal used in fish feed. No negative reactions to algal toxins have been detected. Thus, the use of fish meal, which is often produced from wild fish, can be reduced in feed. The amount of CO2 and nutrients removed will be another key success indicator. Novelty Industrial seaweed cultivation in Europe is in the very early developmental phase and utilises only a few species. In Norway, brown kelp species like cuvie (Laminaria hyperborean), Norwegian kelp (Ascophyllum nododsum) and in particular sugar kelp are already being harvested. In spring 2017 Ocean Forest harvested 40 000 kg of sugar kelp. Making use of the findings, Lerøy Seafood Group is pioneering new approaches and process to reduce their food’s footprint. It has launched new products, including four different seasonings based on seaweed and dried seaweed for chefs who wish to make their own seasonings. Seaweed-seasoned salmon has also been brought to the market. Sustainability Impacts The main impact is the lower environmental footprint of aquaculture. Research has shown that kelp can remove 30-100% of dissolved nitrogen produced by fish farming. Ocean Forest has done chemical analyses showing that each wet ton of sugar kelp binds 2,4 kg nitrogen, 340 g phosphorus, and 26 kg of carbon, equalling 100 kg CO2. No other crop binds this much CO2. There is no data yet available on mussels. As algae and mussels are not fed but grown on recourses already in the sea water, farming them doesn’t use any additional chemicals (biocides or antibiotics). Traditional agriculture is often linked to water scarcity, nutrient leaching, soil erosion, and land use disputes. Crop-based biofuels compete with food production. Seaweed and shellfish farming is a sustainable alternative: space-efficient, not requiring fresh water, removing excess nutrients from waters, and not competing for land area. Cost-effectiveness Calculations are hard to upscale, but the costs are largest for seaweed processing and storing. A commercial seaweed facility will start operating in autumn 2018. In the next years, Ocean Forest will focus on establishing stable and predictable industrial production of seaweed. The production volume will be increased significantly, and the sales and marketing focus will be increased. Challenges and potential for further development: Seaweed has to be processed rapidly after harvesting - in less than 24 h. This means that distances from farming facilities to processing plants have to be short and the supply chain has to be effective. Product development and market research are also still needed, in order to understand the type of seaweed products people are actually interested in buying. The chemical composition of seaweed varies with the season. For example, the amounts of nitrogen bound to the protein part of the algae depends on the time of year. Today, harvesting is done based on maximum biomass, but in the future, some seaweed farms may want to extract certain compounds from the seaweed, in which case the harvesting has to be researched, and timed specifically based on those compounds. Growing blue mussels is straightforward, but separating the soft and hard parts and processing the mussel meat into dry powder requires further development. Ocean Forest is researching different solutions to the challenge. Suitable water currents and clean water are required - the Norwegian fish farming industry has the necessary know-how for facility siting. Biomass production in the oceans has to be developed so that it doesn’t cause similar problems as agriculture, e.g. biodiversity loss, social injustice, or arguments about water area ownership. It also has to be taken into account that harvesting has local impacts on, e.g., nutrient competition with phytoplankton and other species of the ecosystem. The main challenges to profitable usage of seaweed as biofuel are commercial and political: high costs of cultivation, preserving and refining the seaweed; inadequate demand; bioenergy policies with unclear sustainability criteria and unmoving industry actors. Contact person(s) for more information: Harald Sveier, manager of Ocean Forest, harald.sveier@leroy.no