Meet the CEO Bringing Seaweed to Your Grocery Store

Bold Names

The Wall Street Journal

Technology

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 30 August 2024

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Seaweed has lots of practical applications. We use it as fertilizer, incorporate it into face creams and packaging as a plastic alternative, and we eat it. Very little of the seaweed used worldwide is grown in the U.S., which some proponents and regulators are looking to change because seaweed has been shown to have some positive effects on ecosystems. Maine-based Atlantic Sea Farms is one company looking to increase the amount of seaweed grown in U.S. waters. WSJ’s Alex Ossola speaks with Atlantic Sea Farms CEO Briana Warner about how her company is making that happen, and what it will take for seaweed aquaculture to truly scale in the U.S. What do you think about the show? Let us know on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or email us: [email protected] Sign up for the WSJ's free The Future of Everything newsletter. Further reading: A Seaweed Crop Finds a Spot in Maine Waters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	When's the last time you ate seaweed? Maybe you had it in your sushi in strips as a
0:09.6	seaweed or on its own as a snack? Well chances are if you're in the US that seaweed came from elsewhere.
0:16.9	Some 95% of the seaweed you find in the grocery store and beyond was imported,
0:21.6	likely grown in the waters of places like China or South Korea.
0:25.8	Now though, the market for seaweed has grown.
0:28.4	It's become a popular health food in the U.S. and it's making its way into products like
0:32.0	face cream and pet food. So some people
0:34.7	wanted to be farmed closer to home. Proponents say seaweed aquaculture, basically farming
0:40.1	but in the water, comes with a number of benefits.
0:42.8	It could provide an economic boost for fishermen whose livelihoods have been endangered by climate change.
0:47.8	It could help reverse the effects of ocean acidification and even repair damaged ecosystems. And it could be farmed to feed people without fertilizer or pesticide that
0:56.9	land crops need. That is, if seaweed can be farmed at scale.
1:00.9	We've grown the seaweed industry pretty significantly
1:05.0	over the last three years.
1:06.2	And what's most exciting about that
1:07.8	is it's fishermen who are leading that charge.
1:10.4	From the Wall Street Journal,
1:11.5	this is the Future of Everything presents, a series from the Future of Everything podcast team.
1:15.8	I'm Alex Oscela.
1:17.2	Today we're bringing you my interview with Brianna Warner.
1:19.8	She's the CEO of Atlantic Sea Farms, a company based in Maine that is working to grow more
1:24.1	seaweed in U.S. waters.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Wall Street Journal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Wall Street Journal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.