Speaker

About the speaker: 

Agnes Mols Mortensen is co-owner and founder of TARI – Faroe Seaweed. Agnes has a PhD in macroalgal biology and she has worked within the field of seaweed cultivation, biology, research and sustainable development. Agnes was involved in the initial seaweed cultivation experiments in the Faroe Islands already in 2005 and has been more or less active within this field of seaweed biology ever since.

Company info:

TARI – Faroe Seaweed was formally established in 2016 by Mortan Mols Mortensen and Agnes Mols Mortensen. TARI is a seaweed producing and processing company and we produce high-quality food and ingredient products. Developing sustainable and resilient production methods is one of TARI’s most important strategic goals.

Presentation: 

Diversification is a key factor in developing a sustainable seaweed production system. Adding species to the production supports a more ecologically resilient polyculture farm system and due to biological differences in the species the use of the hatchery facilities will spread more evenly over a longer period of the year. Such a diversified production system broadens the raw material supply that can be channelized into a wider range of products. In TARI diversification is an important part of developing sustainable production methods. In addition to the brown algal species Alaria esculenta and Saccharina latissima they are now adding the red algal species Palmaria palmata to their cultivation. TARI has worked on developing P. palmata cultivation since 2022 and in December 2023 they deployed the first batch of seeded P. palmata ropes on the farm. The presentation will report on the seeding, spore development, growth and density in the hatchery and also from the growth on the seaweed farm. Following the diversification strategy future development in TARI will be to upscale and commercialize the P. palmata production and to add more species to the cultivation production.