Farming kelp to sell as food, beauty products, fertilizer additives and other goods is a growing industry in Maine, but also a costly one. One key barrier for new farmers is a lack of cost-analysis tools to help reduce expenditures and develop sustainable business plans.
Researchers from Kelson Marine in Portland, Maine and the University of Maine developed a new tool that provides detailed economic analyses for kelp farmers and reveals strategies for reducing the cost of farmed seaweed. It accounts for differences in site selection, weather, crop size and dozens of other scenario-specific factors. It can be used for operations nearshore and offshore, like large-scale farms in the Gulf of Maine that are fully exposed to nor-easter driven waves.
"By using this tool to investigate the comprehensive implications of any given farm design or operational decision, we can help kelp farmers meaningfully reduce production costs and achieve economic sustainability," said project lead Zach Moscicki, ocean engineer with Kelson Marine. "The tool allows us to carefully navigate the multitude of tradeoffs associated with any such decision and avoid leaning into overly narrow-scoped improvements that may reduce costs in one way, but increase costs or reduce production via some other indirect but connected pathway."
The tool incorporates many different factors from a farming scenario, including site specific-ocean and meteorological conditions, species-specific crop characteristics and growth, workboat types and sizes, labor structures, operational technology, local shore-side infrastructure, maintenance schedules and more.
By resolving the comprehensive impact on the bottom line and the multitude of tradeoffs associated with specific operational and farm design decisions, the tool provides unique insight into the implications of cost-saving alternatives. These can include on-board kelp processing or storage techniques, or using various machinery to increase operation speeds.
To test the tool, researchers used it to analyze the production costs of a hypothetical sugar kelp farming operation occupying 1000 acres, located about 12 miles from shore and placed 330 feet below the surface. Several scenarios, including multiple farm designs and operational models, were evaluated to understand the inherent impacts on farming at such a site.
The tool predicted that operating a kelp farm that is simply designed for low structural costs and high production volume would cost $2618 per tonne of fresh kelp. However, by testing design and operational decisions via the tool, the team was able to identify significant improvements that, when combined, reduced the cost of production by 85% to $383 per tonne of fresh kelp. These improvements included deeper cultivation lines, mechanized harvest and seeding operations, processing the kelp on-site into a slurry, optimizing vessel sizes and selecting different vessels.
The team from Kelson Marine and UMaine was supported by scientists from the University of New Hampshire, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Vertical Bay Maine.
The framework for this tool and case study findings are published in Algal Research
