Supporting expansion and skills development for the seaweed aquaculture industry.
Courses
The Seaweed Academy is the UK’s only dedicated seaweed industry facility offering a complete package of training, education, and business development – a one-stop-shop for supporting expansion and skills development for the seaweed aquaculture industry.
Providing a truly innovative and holistic service to the sector, the Seaweed Academy will offer:
Developments and assistance in the field of social and commercial licensing
Support in establishing a commercial business
Guidance and training in technical abilities
One Week Course
Seaweed Academy
Will give attendees an understanding of; The process, Bottlenecks, Action & considerations at each stage, Biology, Accreditation, Licensing, Traceability, Sustainability, Species, Design, Economics, Market and Farming processes.
The curriculum outline will follow a series of modules with a duration of half a day each.
These modules will include; Introduction to seaweed farming (Introduction, Species identification, Traceability/sustainability), Economics (Business plan, Mapping economics of sector), Licensing (Crown, Social), Nursery (Requirement, Considerations, Methods), Farming (Monitoring, Maintenance, Farm design), Cultivation (Practical farm visit, Harvest), Aquaculture (Blue Carbon, IMTA system), Processing (Primary, Secondary) and Market (Drivers, Considerations).
One Day Course
Seaweed Academy
Targeted towards those interested seaweed farmers, stakeholders in seaweed industry.
Will give the attendees a basic understanding of; The process, Action and considerations at each stage , Bottlenecks , General overview, Traceability and Sustainability.
The modules this course will cover include; Introduction to seaweed (Process outline, Market considerations), Pre-licensing + Licensing (Key considerations, Social, Crown), Nursery + Deployment (Process, Timing), Farm + Harvest (Monitoring, Maintenance), Traceability and Sustainability (Sustainable harvesting, Traceability importance), Processing and Market (Primary + secondary, Feasibility, Market demand).
Licensing
Two Day Course
Targeted towards those interested in seaweed farming, industry stakeholders, those having difficulty understanding and carrying out licensing actions.
Will give the attendees an understanding of; Impacts (benefits and adverse) , Planning for bottlenecks , How to structure a timeline , Importance of social licensing , Biosecurity considerations , Tools for preparation , Species (site specific) and Best practices for working with communities.
The modules this course will cover include; Introduction to seaweed licensing (Process outline, Scottish marine regions), Understanding impacts (Benefits of seaweed cultivation, Adverse characteristics), Biosecurity (Genetic diversity, Invasive species, Pathogens, Disease and pest management, Entanglement, Release of plastics), Community (Feedback, Analysis of stakeholders), Preparation (Project definition, Document preparation, Finances), Process of obtaining consents (Pre-application process, Marine license, LOA, Consultations), Species selection (Requirements of site for each species) and Site selection (Protected areas, Geography, Water quality, Nutrients & Salinity).
Farming
Two Day Course
Targeted towards those interested in seaweed farming, improving their farm knowledge and those transitioning from aquaculture to seaweed.
Will give the attendees an understanding of; Site selection , Farm design , Knot work , Boat work, Materials and tools , Seasonality, Species , Monitoring work , Biosecurity and IMTA.
The modules this course will cover include; Introduction to seaweed farming, Nursery (Species, Twine, Binder), Boat maintenance, Farm Design (Requirements, longlines, grid-based), Site selection (Areas, Challenges, Benefits & pitfalls), Deployment (Seasonality, Growth rate, Timeline), Integrated systems (IMTA, Benefits, Stock value, Limiting risk), Monitoring and Maintenance (Inspection, Water temp, nutrients, salinity, turbidity , light, floatation), Biofouling (Timing, Dangers, Avoidance), Practical site visit.
