Seaweed has a key role to play in providing biomass and raw material for multiple industries as they move to eco-friendly and sustainable products and processes. However, creating a viable seaweed industry in the UK is challenging as there is investment needed in rural areas for infrastructure and facilities and existing seaweed companies are struggling to gain traction.
Strategic Scientific Consulting together with Argyll Aquaculture has been working with community representatives from Sutherland in the far north of Scotland to create a plan for development of seaweed industry activities in their area to create jobs and to encourage re-population. The business plan supports the establishment of seaweed production and processing alongside innovation facilities to help support a wider economic base of micro-companies. Sites for seaweed farming and shore gathering of multiple species have been identified to create year-round sources of seaweed supporting quality jobs. The key factors are starting operations at scale large enough to be of interest to companies already producing high demand items from seaweed and ensuring local easy access to stabilisation and processing to be able to service the needs of a range of customers.
Grant funding from Highland Council through the Regeneration Fund enabled the communities to engage the services of experts to work with local representatives to create a plan that embraces the environmental, social and economic aspects of creating a sustainable viable business proposition as part of the NW2045 vision.
Dr Cait Murray-Green of Strategic Scientific Consulting says “Working with the communities to create a business plan that represents their ambition and needs whilst addressing the complex factors of creating a viable seaweed business in a remote rural area has been an honour.”
Stevie Jarron of Argyll Aquaculture says “The communities of Assynt, Scourie and Kinlochbervie have been very engaged and supportive of how seaweed can complement their existing fishery and aquaculture businesses.”
Margaret Meek of Kinlochbervie Community Company says, “It has been a pleasure to work with Cait and Stevie on a project that has proceeded as timetabled and completed on time.”
Strategic Scientific Consulting offer business support services for technologists, scientists and budding entrepreneurs in Finland, Scotland and across the world. They have expertise in sustainability and eco-economy, excelling at market research and using it to create routes to market and sales also identifying funding and to prepare applications and pitches for investment.
Argyll Aquaculture is Scotland’s Premier seaweed farming consultancy, specialising in site selection, licensing process and operational development of seaweed cultivation
The Kinlochbervie Community Company is a charitable company founded in 2008. Our aim is to initiate and develop community improvement projects. Current projects include Loch Clash Pier, the Manse Road houses and Community Broadband.
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