NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: Developing Blue Economy from Micro to Macro-Scale in Kelp Aquaculture

The need for aquaculture expansion in the United States is well recognized as a means of stimulating coastal economies, securing seafood supplies, restoring damaged ecosystems, and generating innovative solutions to our global climate issues. Seaweed aquaculture is experiencing a global boom and is now

considered one of the fastest growing marine industries in the Northeastern US. The combination of these farming economies has the potential to bolster economic growth and play a key role in our climate

solution. This project will bring together a wide-ranging team of scientific investigators, tribal groups, and kelp farmers to explore ways to enhance seaweed farming along the west coast of the USA. The project team will explore the role of microbial communities and their gene functions in promoting seaweed health, and nutritional and industrial quality, The ultimate goal is to determine whether these microbiomes can play a crucial role in expanding seaweed aquaculture.

The role of seaweed genetics is being increasingly appreciated in the field of seaweed farming and restoration efforts, especially as the oceans warm. The team will convene several in-person and on-line meetings with team members in California and Alaska, travel to seaweed farms to train farmers in microbial sampling techniques, and ultimately build a “Guide for best Practices” for seaweed farming that can be used by this expanding sector.

The overarching goal is to provide a framework to enhance Blue Economy and habitat restoration efforts along the west coast.

This collaborative project focuses on the understudied, yet critically important microbial communities associated with seaweed farms throughout the west coast of North America, the microbiome. The project goal is to elucidate which species are present and what their functions in kelp farming are. Specifically, the project team seeks to answer the following questions: what the role of each microbial species is; what interactions occur among species and with their host in the microbial environment; and how do microbes change in the environment.

This project will improve understanding of spatial and temporal variation in seaweed microbial communities at taxonomic and functional metabolism levels throughout the west coast, correlating this knowledge with kelp health and chemical composition. This will provide better information for the kelp aquaculture industry concerning best practices for farm management and ecosystem restoration, optimal farm designs and site locations, and approaches for increasing desirable attributes associated with seaweed aquaculture (polysaccharide and alginate production, carbohydrate and lipid production, heat shock resistance and overall biomass production yields).

Educational outreach activities will train and inform students and the public. Project results will be incorporated with existing K-12 outreach activities at the Kasitsna Bay Laboratory and San Diego State University. Social media will be used to highlight research discoveries, including a dedicated project web page and corresponding blog posts, which will allow this research to reach a diverse range of people differing in age, class, race, etc.

Ultimately, a Guide to Best Practices will be generated to teach seaweed farmers how to sample microbiomes, and how to incorporate this knowledge into their farm designs to enhance Blue Economy activities and habitat restoration from Alaska to California.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.