Increasing seaweed production capacity

This fisheries LAG project helped a family-run company that produces, harvests, and encourages consumption of a sea vegetable known as sugar kelp to insulate the farm shop and build a new drying facility to increase production capacity.

The owners of the company, Rie and Leif, are constantly looking for new development opportunities to help their goal of getting more people to consume seaweed. Alongside harvesting sugar kelp (Saccharina latissimi) and using it to produce edible products, they also run 'seaweed safaris' and organise harvesting outings.
In their search for new ideas, they started to experiment with seaweed cultivation, both on land and on ropes in the sea. This has already been tried at other locations but is a new idea for the Danish island of Læsø, where the project is based. Rie and Leif joined a nationally financed project via the local action group (LAG) to find out whether the climate is mild enough to allow seaweed to be cultivated on the shores of Læsø itself. Alternatively, it may be possible to grow sugar kelp on a kilometre-long line anchored a few hundred metres from the shore.

The EU support has made it possible to expand the company and test new ideas that arise both through the founders’ daily work and through the seaweed networks to which they belong. The funding also allowed them to invest in production equipment, especially the farm shop and the drying facility.