Welcome to AquaInvest Platform: A Knowledge & Learning Platform 

The objective of this platform is to share knowledge, tools, and best aquaculture practices among practitioners, policymakers, innovators, researchers, and experts, and to provide periodic updates and inform on current development in aquaculture. The present activity seeks to identify gaps, innovations, opportunities, and new markets for aquaculture industry to scale up and alleviate poverty and improve global environmental resilience.

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Global Seaweed New and Emerging Markets Report 2023

With its ability to sink carbon, sustain marine biodiversity, employ women, and unlock value chains, seaweed farming demonstrates how development, climate, and nature work together to generate value and uplift communities. Seaweed farming can help build a world free of poverty on a livable planet and has enormous growth potential.

The Global Seaweed New and Emerging Markets Report 2023 has identified ten global seaweed markets with the potential to grow by an additional USD 11.8 billion by 2030. Yet, much of the seaweed sector’s value remains untapped - it has clear growth potential beyond its current markets. Today, most farmed seaweed is used for direct human consumption, as fresh feed in aquaculture, or as hydrocolloids. However, seaweed-farmed products may be able to displace fossil fuels in sectors such as fabrics and plastics; can provide ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration and nitrogen cycling; and can generate socioeconomic benefits in fragile coastal communities. Further, the market is currently dominated by a handful of Asian countries, which produce 98 percent of farmed seaweed by volume globally. Opportunities for growth in new regions and applications are high. 

Download the Report ll Download the Executive Summary

Key Messages

• Seaweed farming can help support a world free of poverty on a livable planet. With its ability to sink carbon, sustain marine biodiversity, employ women, and unlock value chains, seaweed farming demonstrates how development, climate, and nature work together to generate value and uplift communities. 
• A new World Bank report examining ten emerging seaweed markets estimates their growth potential could be up to US$11.8 billion by 2030. Yet, despite this projection, much of the seaweed sector’s additional value remains untapped - it has clear growth potential beyond its current markets. 
• The report can be a good guide for entrepreneurs, investors, and policy makers worldwide on how to capitalize on the potential of the seaweed sector. It focuses on 10 emerging seaweed applications with the most promise for market diversification opportunities outside the dominant agar, alginate, carrageenan, food and aquaculture feed sectors. 
• The report also looks at the ecosystem service side of the seaweed sector - benefits such as biodiversity enhancement - providing case studies from emerging projects, along with projections relating to whether and how these services could one day be monetized.
• At a time when global resources are increasingly overstretched, the world must capitalize on resources – such as seaweed – that can both be swiftly regenerated and potentially help to regenerate the ecosystems that support them. Enhanced seaweed production and improved value chains can have both economic and environmental benefits. For example, seaweed-farmed products may eventually be able to displace fossil fuels in sectors such as fabrics and plastics.

 

Seaweed Insights: a practical guide to global seaweed farming which is based on the work carried out on the ground across the world’s major seaweed producing regions. 

 

The Potential of the Blue Economy : Increasing Long-term Benefits of the Sustainable Use of Marine Resources for Small Island Developing States and Coastal Least Developed Countries.

This report was drafted by a working group of United Nations entities, the World Bank, and other stakeholders to suggest a common understanding of the blue economy; to highlight the importance of such an approach, particularly for small island developing states and coastal least developed countries; to identify some of the key challenges its adoption poses; and to suggest some broad next steps that are called for in order to ensure its implementation. Although the term “blue economy” has been used in different ways, it is understood here as comprising the range of economic sectors and related policies that together determine whether the use of oceanic resources is sustainable. Read more 

The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) 2022  

 is the biennial flagship report of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division that analyses the status of global stocks as well as trends in fisheries and aquaculture at a global and regional level. SOFIA is a critical reference for governments, policy makers, academics, civil society and all actors working in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. Please visit the FAO page to access digital resources.

 

The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020  

The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture is the only publication of its kind, which for years has provided technical insight and information on a sector crucial for societal success. Among other things, the report highlights major trends and patterns observed in global fisheries and aquaculture and scans the horizon for new and emerging areas that need to be considered if we are to manage aquatic resources sustainably into the future. I hope this edition will have even greater quantitative and qualitative impact than previous editions, making valuable contributions in helping us meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. Read more

Opportunities and challenges for aquaculture in developing countries  

The interest in aquaculture projects is growing. Considering the specificities of aquaculture and the potential challenges linked to the development of this sector, the Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the German International Development Agency (GIZ) commissioned this common reference document for use by colleagues in European Union Delegations (EUDs) and in GIZ/AFD country offices. The purpose of the document is to highlight the opportunities and the challenges of sustainable aquaculture development in developing countries. This reference document should not be considered as a set of guidelines, but rather as a compendium of established concepts and past experiences useful for those interested in developing, funding or managing aquaculture projects. As will become apparent, there are no simple, universal solutions to developing sustainable aquaculture in all its different forms; this document is intended to outline the fundamentals required when considering possible interventions. Read more

Seaweed Revolution: A Manifesto for a Sustainable Future  

This seaweed manifesto (prepared by United Nations Global Compact ) is a visionary document outlining how seaweed can contribute to delivering on the sustainable development goals. It defines a vision for the industry, explores the opportunities and benefits, as well as outlining the challenges and barriers for responsible development of the industry. The focus is on the untapped potential, which might not be met without new thought leadership and convening power to improve knowledge and expertise, develop new funding initiatives and influence policy makers, regulators, and consumers. Read More 

Climate Change and Marine Fisheries in Africa : Assessing Vulnerability and Strengthening Adaptation Capacity   

The understanding of the impacts of climate change on fisheries is constantly increasing and can be organized around several main factors - ocean acidification, sea-level rise, higher water temperatures, deoxygenation, changes in ocean currents - although these factors are unequally known and hard to model in terms of scope - where they will occur and where they will be felt the most - and severity. For instance, although the impacts of acidification are not as well understood as the effects of the other impacts, and are more difficult to measure, it is likely that they are more severe and widespread, particularly on shell-forming species, invertebrates, and coral associated species and throughout any carbon-dependent ecological processes. This report aims to assess, to the extent possible, the potential impact of climate change on fisheries and the related well-being of coastal African countries. It focuses on how the observed and anticipated ecological impacts of climate change are likely to affect fish stocks and the fisheries that depend on them and highlights the coastal countries and regions in Africa that are most vulnerable to climate change. Based on these projections, the report further assesses subsequent socioeconomic impacts on coastal countries and communities. The report concludes with a discussion of lessons learned from the modeling results. Read more

The Sunken Billions Revisited : Progress and Challenges in Global Marine Fisheries  

Global marine fisheries are in crisis: 90 percent are fully fished and overfished. The result is lost economic benefits of approximately $83 billion a year ---the “sunken billions” of the title. Reducing overfishing would allow severely overexploited fish stocks to recover over time. Subsequently, the combination of larger fish stocks and reduced but sustainable fishing activities would lead to higher economic yields. However, to reach that equilibrium, comprehensive and coordinated reforms are necessary. The Sunken Billions Revisited: Progress and Challenges in Global Marine Fisheries builds on The Sunken Billions: The Economic Justification for Fisheries Reform, a 2009 study published by the World Bank and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, but with a deeper regional analysis. Read more

What's New

PROBLUE Resources and News

AquaInvest Platform Learning Series | World Bank Group: This learning series promotes the adoption of good practices throughout the aquaculture value chain, encouraging improved sustainability, profitability, marketability, and private-sector investment.

A 20-year retrospective review of global aquaculture

Aquaculture: global status and trends

Why invest in aquaculture - Hatch Blue 

The Safe Seaweed Coalition is a global partnership established to oversee the safety and sustainability of the seaweed industry. 

Seaweed Cultivation Market

6 Most Common Varieties Of Edible Seaweed