Our team, alongside our research partners from the marine science unit at Flinders University, joined presenters, delegates and industry representatives from countries across the globe – including the United States, the UK, South Korea, NZ, Brazil, the Caribbean, Japan, Canada Scotland, Malaysia, Denmark and France – for the 24th International Seaweed Symposium in Hobart recently.
The theme for the 2023 symposium was ‘Seaweeds in a changing world’, which focused on ongoing changes in seaweed aquaculture practices, industrial processing, future products and markets, local and global environmental change, and scientific advances that will change our understanding of how seaweeds function.
The Hobart symposium marked the first time it has been held in Australia in its 24-year history and offered those attending the opportunity to hear from presenters and speakers spanning small business, large corporations, academia and government on a diverse range of seaweed related topics.
The sheer range of topics discussed and presented included the role of seaweed in reducing global warming, creating a scalable, sustainable global industry, how the local seaweed industry is aligning with the Federal Government’s agenda for aquaculture development and emissions reduction.
The team also visited the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, the CSRIO and the beautiful city of Hobart.
Dr Thanh Hoang Hai who was part of the SeaStock team attending the symposium said: “it was a great time to hear from the other Australian and international companies at the forefront of the seaweed industry including CH4, Seaforest, Symposia and Green Grazer,”.
She said the team also spent valuable time with fellow academics from Sunshine Coast University who are progressing their research into Asparagopsis and who have achieved great progress in terms of research and commercial applications.
SeaStock CTO, Tom Chaney, echoed Dr Hai’s comments about the calibre of speakers and presenters at the symposium and said it also offered an opportunity to meet with other Future Feed licensees in an informal environment and to discuss milestones and targets.
“We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Future Feed and the other licensees after many years of Zoom meetings due to lock downs, so it was a great opportunity for everyone to meet in person and talk about the industry in general, our research and recent developments,” he said.
He said the sheer breadth of seaweed related topics that the conference covered was inspiring and educative and presented a unique opportunity to meet with industry and academia to discuss the latest research and activities.
“It was a great opportunity to hear first-hand what is happening in the industry on a domestic and global level and to have the opportunity to speak directly with some of those at the forefront of various aspects of research and development.
“The level of focus and activity occurring at a global level is fantastic for the industry as a whole and also for us as a WA-based company focused on achieving our commercialisation and research goals,” he said.
