About seamark

The Project

 

SeaMark is a four-year project funded by Horizon Europe under contract no. 101060379.

The project started on July 1, 2022. A consortium led by Ocean Rainforest comprising 25 international, cross-disciplinary partners has been awarded a prestigious €9 million Horizon Europe grant to upscale seaweed production and market applications across Europe. SeaMark will:

1 – Utilise recent ground-breaking selective breeding technologies within EU seaweed crop genetics to increase biomass yield.

2 – Upscale circular seaweed cultivation both offshore and in land-based integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) systems, developing novel processing methods e.g. fermentation and biotransformation.

3 – Analyse the entire value chain for techno-economic feasibility and socio-economic impact.

4 – Identify and quantify ecosystem services provided by seaweed cultivation. This will feed into a strategic development plan for upscaling seaweed production, and addressing the carrying capacity of seaweed cultivation in Europe.

Due to the need to build more resilient food systems and decrease reliance on fossil-based products, it is necessary to grow the blue bio-economy through seaweed cultivation and product innovation. SeaMark will help fulfil the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (3, 8, 9, 12, 13 & 14) by developing this industry and, simultaneously, providing a positive impact on people and the planet.

Our Mission

To unlock the potential of algae for a thriving European blue bioeconomy, SeaMark will go beyond state of the art with the installation of a pilot biorefinery plant for cultivated seaweed, producing multiple high value functional ingredients to meet the development needs of industry, reaching Technological Readiness Level (TRL) 7 or above. 

The long-term ambition of SeaMark is to lay the foundation for a competitive, bio-based circular blue economy in Europe, which simultaneously addresses global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and ocean acidification, benefitting society, the economy and our environment. 

Project Kick-Off (KO)

The SeaMark partners and Executive Advisory Board convened in Torshavn, Faroe Islands to kick things off

September
2022
Executive Board Meeting 1 (EB1)

The SeaMark work package leaders met in Roscoff to discuss progress and next steps

January
2023
Annual Partner Meeting 1 (AM1)

The SeaMark partners met in Århus, Denmark to review project progress and discuss next steps over the coming months

May/June
2023
Executive Board Meeting 2 (EB2)

The SeaMark work package leaders met in Tromsø to discuss progress and next steps

January
2024
Annual Partner Meeting 2 (AM1)

The SeaMark partners will meet in Edinburgh to review project progress and discuss next steps over the coming months

May
2024
Executive Board Meeting 3 (EB3)

The SeaMark work package leaders will meet in the Netherlands to discuss progress and next steps

January
2025
Annual Partner Meeting 3 (AM3)

The SeaMark partners will meet in Brest to review the progress and discuss next steps

May
2025
Executive Board Meeting 4 (EB4)

The SeaMark work package leaders will meet in Germany to discuss progress and next steps

January
2026
Annual Partner Meeting (AM4)

The SeaMark Partners will meet in Copenhagen to review the progress and discuss next steps

18
May
2026

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