Speaker

Seagriculture EU

21 - 22 June 2023

Trondheim, Norway

Selective breeding innovations for more competitive kelp farming

Scott Lindell, Research Specialist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA

About the speaker: 

Scott Lindell led a Scientific Aquaculture Program at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole for 15 years where he researched new methods for seaweed and shellfish farming. His R&D program over the last 7 years at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution takes a multi-disciplinary approach to practical ocean farming challenges that typically requires cooperation between commercial and academic partners. Current projects include demonstration projects for sugar kelp in Alaska, tropical seaweeds in Puerto Rico, and leading a selective breeding program for sugar kelp in New England.

Scott Lindell is a winner of the Gold Award for Innovation at the first Seagriculture USA that took place on 7 & 8 September 2022 in Portland, ME.


Company info:

Established in 1930, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on Cape Cod is the largest private nonprofit ocean research, engineering, and education organization in the world today with over 1,000 employees.


Presentation:

Sugar kelp strains have been created with over 20 kg/m harvest wet weight and up to 28 kg/m or 4 kg/m dry weight – about 4 times the commercial average. Using infertile, or “seedless” selectively-bred strains we have developed could remove regulatory barriers, and make kelp farming more competitive with land crops while protecting wild kelp diversity