A newly established seaweed company is to lead a European Union project to expand the growth of the super food in Ireland’s waters. Galway-based Óir na Farraige (ONF ) is partnering with the EU’s Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT ) to examine the role seaweed can play in developing sustainable food systems, strengthen bio-based industries and accelerate innovation in sustainable industries based off our seas and oceans of the ‘blue’ economy.
“Seaweed has enormous potential as a sustainable marine crop,” said Gareth Murphy, managing director of Óir na Farraige. “A key challenge for the sector is reaching the scale required to supply emerging markets consistently. This project focuses on how we can reduce production costs, improve cultivation efficiency and connect seaweed biomass with real industrial demand.”
The project will be a European collaboration, supported by EIT Food, exploring how seaweed cultivation can better align with existing industries and deliver the scale of biomass needed for emerging ‘blue’ bioeconomy supply chains.
Led by Óir na Farraige, the project brings together partners from Ireland and Norway to examine how seaweed cultivation can connect with downstream sectors including agriculture, bio-based materials and marine-derived products. The project has a total value of €1.5 million, supported by funding from EIT’s food arm. EIT Food is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT ), a body of the European Union.
“The initiative contributes to Europe’s broader efforts to develop sustainable food systems, strengthen bio-based industries and accelerate innovation across the blue economy," Mr Murphy explained.
"Seaweed is increasingly recognised as a versatile marine resource with applications ranging from bio-stimulants for agriculture to functional ingredients and bio-based materials. Yet, despite surging interest and expanding cultivation across Europe, the industry faces a critical hurdle: building robust supply chains capable of delivering consistent, high-quality biomass at a commercially viable scale. If seaweed is to fulfil its potential as a competitive raw material for bio-based industries, two things are essential: reducing production costs and improving operational efficiency.”
The project focuses on one of the sector’s key challenges: achieving viable economies of scale in seaweed production, as the industry must increase biomass production per hectare while reducing operational costs to reliably supply industrial markets.
As part of the project, the Norwegian partner Arctic Seaweed will demonstrate elements of its integrated seaweed cultivation platform in Irish waters for the first time. The system combines advanced cultivation infrastructure with enabling processes such as direct seeding, designed from the outset to support large-scale, industrial seaweed production.
University of Galway partners will evaluate seaweed farming’s ecosystem service contributions and life cycle impacts to validate its potential as a regenerative aquaculture solution.
By integrating multiple cultivation steps into a streamlined operational system, the technology simplifies farm deployment, reduces operational complexity, and enables significantly higher biomass yields per hectare than traditional cultivation methods. The demonstration will explore how this platform can help accelerate the development of scalable seaweed supply chains capable of supplying emerging bioeconomy markets.
“Insights from the demonstration will help inform the next phase of development for Óir na Farraige’s cultivation operations, helping prepare the company for planned commercial production from 2028 onwards,” Mr Murphy said.
