A British business on a mission to remove one billion tonnes of carbon from the ocean each year by utilising the power of seaweed, has launched a tranche of pioneering solutions it believes will revolutionise how coastal communities tackle the challenges posed by sargassum, a seaweed species often known for overwhelming local coastal ecosystems.

Seafields is a UK-based company working to innovate in the seaweed and aquaculture sector. Among its projects is an effort to domesticate sargassum seaweed and “unlock its value for the industry” as well as the climate. 

The company is seeking to restore ocean health by mitigating one billion metric tonnes of carbon each year through innovative solutions and technologies to manage, cultivate, and supply sargassum seaweed. Its priority is to, essentially, convert what is typically seen as a ‘waste product’ into a valuable year-round feedstock.

Potential uses for sargassum seaweed include within products as a biostimulant, a biofuel, and a biopolymer for use in the production of a ‘plastic alternative.’  

With its latest developments – SeaClear and SeaGrow – the company is now looking to “revolutionise” how coastal communities, such as those in the Caribbean where sargassum is a prolific invasive species – tackle the challenges posed by it.

While sargassum acts an important ecological haven in the open seas where it provides essential habitat for a host of marine life – including the green turtle and the blue marlin, alongside the sargassum fish – a changing and warming ocean has fulled the proliferation of this seaweed which now inundates the coastlines of the Caribbean. 

It’s here that the seaweed has plagued Caribbean communities for years, disrupting tourism, harming marine life, emitting toxic gasses, and burdening local economies with costly cleanups.

Seafields’ solution is a simple one. But it could prove extremely effective in restoring the health of the Caribbean coastline. The business aims to intercept sargassum before it hits beaches and establish a “scalable supply chain” that will go on to fuel a new, homegrown industry for the region. This could be transformational for the local economy. Industries worst affected by sargassum – those such as hotels and leisure – have typically been diverting the seaweed to landfills. This has been billed as a ‘short term solution to a long term problem’ however, by simply relocating the problem inland while ‘failing to address the broader ecological impact.’

SeaClear, then, is a net barrier that works to intercept incoming sargassum and prevent it from reaching beaches while “keeping the seaweed fresh” for further processing. By preventing the decomposition of the seaweed, SeaClear can “help avoid the emission of harmful gases” such as methane, while supporting a ‘zero-waste solution’. 

Meanwhile, SeaGrow is the company’ means of ensuring a consistent, year-round supply of sargassum through large-scale aquaculture. Together, SeaClear and SeaGrow may provide a solution to unlocking sargassum’s potential for use across areas like bioenergy, bioplastics, agriculture, and manufacturing. Seafields believes that by directing this species of seaweed into these high-growth product areas it can create new economic opportunities for local communities while reducing environmental impact.