In an increasingly disruptive and climate uncertain world, ocean farming is becoming a game of high risk and low return. For years we have exploited our ocean for food and natural resources, to the point of systemic breakdown. Seaweed farming, however, promises a sustainable and regenerative way in which to work with our ocean. Between October 2021 to April 2022, EcoNiche and The Good Ocean tested approaches to the production and harvesting of local seaweed species, specifically Gracilaria (an economically important red seaweed), in the Aghanashini Estuary (Karnataka, India). As an early-stage investor in this project, our objective at EcoNiche is to develop a strong investment case for private funding, to upscale self-sustaining ocean-based solutions to the climate crisis. Our pilot highlighted the important of building from a strong ecological understanding of the species being farmed, of involving the community from the project feasibility analyses and design stages, of monitoring the dynamic estuarine forces on growth and of clearly determining the roles and responsibilities of all involved in the production, farm maintenance and harvesting processes. As we now gradually wind down our pilot farm, we will absorb the learnings from our pilot and remodel our approaches for the upcoming season. #seaweed #algae #oceanfarming #oceansolutions #gracilaria
