Fremantle Seaweed: The Blueprint for Offshore Culitvation of Asparagopsis 

About the speaker: 

Chris de Cuyper is the Co-founder and CEO of Fremantle Seaweed, a company that grows the red seaweed Asparagopsis that has been proven by FutureFeed to lower methane emission from cattle when added as a feed supplement.

Chris has a passion for ocean and loves nothing more than being out on his boat. He is committed to being a force for good and sees that progressing the seaweed industry in Australia can move the dial on climate change.

Chris’s started his career as an Electrician in the mining industry and then became a Mechanical Engineer, specialising in Project Management and Automation. Founding Fremantle Seaweed in 2020, Chris has become an aquaculture advocate and provides an energetic voice to the Australian seaweed industry that respects the responsible development of the industry whilst advancing the new opportunity of seaweed aquaculture.

Organisation:

Fremantle Seaweed operates a 32ha aquaculture lease in Owen Anchorage that was approved by WA Fisheries in November 2022. The team have grown trial crops of Asparagopsis and other seaweeds over the last two years and completed significant research into offshore cultivation techniques.

From a marine grower’s perspective, the current industry constraint is the supply of good quality seed material, so Fremantle Seaweed is developing a hatchery and nursery facility that can supply 1,000’s of km of seeded substrate of Asparagopsis for grow out at an ocean lease.

Western Australia has the unique latitudinal advantage of a 10,000km coastline where we find Asparagopsis growing year-round. Fremantle Seaweed has the 32ha ‘Blueprint’ site that can support the sustainable development of larger scale seaweed farms elsewhere in WA.

Presentation

The presentation slides will provide the following information:

• An overview of the ‘Blueprint’ seaweed farm and why it is strategically located to advance the Asparagopsis seaweed industry.
• Market size analysis including an assessment of the seaweed production area required to supply our customers
• An innovative approach to seaweed production that can deliver a zero-cost feed supplement to cattle farmers that would see large scale adoption and a bigger impact to reducing methane emissions.
• The opportunity to scale in WA through our latitudinal advantage.
• The future state of the Asparagopsis industry and how we can leverage existing technology to enable large scale (10,000ha+) seaweed aquaculture.