Dr. Cecil Beamish:

There are a couple of elements to seaweed. BIM, as the development agency, is working on how to develop a seaweed farming industry for seaweed harvesting. It can be selective in terms of the species and the conditions in which they are grown to have a higher quality product. Seaweed farming is an emerging sector, along with multi-trophic aquaculture where there are some aquaculture species growing side by side with seaweed farming so benefits can be had from both. A big part of the future is emerging there. So far, the environmental challenges of that are relatively limited, but it is a new activity and something may emerge. Currently, it appears to be quite benign in environmental impact.

Wild seaweed harvesting is a different matter and will be governed by the new licensing framework. It will be a different type of decision-making process for foreshore extraction, which is a different type of activity from that of farming seaweed in controlled conditions at licensed sites, which has emerged as a new activity.