Aquaculture

Current farming and fishing practices are having devastating impacts on our climate and environment. Scott Lindell, research specialist at The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, reveals how marine aquaculture can sustainably feed the world’s growing population.

Using a mix of rulers, calipers, and measuring tapes, a dozen scientists—an aquaculture geek squad of sorts—are sizing up thousands of individual kelp blades recently harvested from offshore seaweed farms in New England in order to find the best specimens for selective breeding. It’s a long, exacting process, but for WHOI scientist Scott Lindell, it’s a key step toward turning the ocean crop into a global energy source for the future. The work will enable scientists to breed better kelp—strains that can tolerate the harsh offshore conditions in which they’re grown. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is funding the research, as part of a broader effort aimed at advancing the mass production of seaweed for biofuels. The idea is simple: Grow kelp on a large scale in offshore farms and turn it into biofuels that could one day power millions of homes and cars.

Check out what it takes to grow great seaweed! Take a 360 tour of WHOI’s Environmental Systems Laboratory as our researchers weigh, measure, and dry kelp from an experimental coastal farm to find out what characteristics could add up to an optimal crop for food, feed, and biofuels.

Using a mix of rulers, calipers, and measuring tapes, a dozen scientists—an aquaculture geek squad of sorts—are sizing up thousands of individual kelp blades recently harvested from offshore seaweed farms in New England in order to find the best specimens for selective breeding. It’s a long, exacting process, but for WHOI scientist Scott Lindell, it’s a key step toward turning the ocean crop into a global energy source for the future.