Flow interactions with seaweed and implications for offshore aquaculture

This webinar will provide a background to offshore seaweed aquaculture including an Australian perspective, the biophysical effects arising from interaction with waves and currents and an overview of current projects in offshore seaweed aquaculture.

We’ll touch on the opportunities for cultivating macroalgae in the open ocean, required adaptation to high energy environments along with the required system design and supporting technologies. Lastly we will cover the seaweed-ocean interaction processes and the current research gaps in seaweed hydrodynamics.

A Q&A will follow the presentations.

Presentations:

1. An introduction to offshore seaweed aquaculture including an Australian perspective, scoping study findings relevant to the ocean environment/hydrodynamics.
Presented by Dr Wouter Visch, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania

2. Biophysical effects arising from interaction with waves and currents.
Presented by Dr Louise Kregting

3. An overview of current projects in offshore seaweed aquaculture.
Presented by Professor Bela Buck

4. Seaweed-ocean interaction processes, research gaps in seaweed hydrodynamics.
Presented by Professor Ryan Lowe