Australia’s economy needs new growth industries, and some may not even be that hard to find.
Seaweed, for example, may present such an opportunity.
In addition to its traditional use in food (seaweed is said to be rich in macro and micronutrients including omega-3, iodine, protein and fibre), seaweed is now finding usein many other areas, such as cosmetics, nutraceuticals, animal feed, and fertilisers.
This could even include 100% biodegradable bio plastics to potentially replace plastic packaging.
Important for the versatility and nutritious potential of marine algae are sulfated polysaccharides, which are gel-like large sugar molecules found abundantly in the cell walls of marine algae.
These sugars have indeed attracted a lot of attention due to their various biological, medical and physicochemical properties.
The market value of the global seaweed industry has now risen to an estimated value of over US$11 billion, and that value is set to double by 2025, according to the founder and current chief executive officer of the Australian Seaweed Institute (ASI), Jo Kelly.
In Australia, though, entrepreneurs and researchers have been slow in seizing on the potential of the industry. This is despite seaweeds having ideal growing conditions here, and the huge export opportunity associated with high-value bioproducts from native Australian seaweeds, the 2019 Myer Innovation Fellow says.
According to Ms Kelly, there are no commercial scale seaweed ocean farms operating here nor is there a strategic plan for industry development.
A collaboration between AgriFutures Australia and the Australian Seaweed Institute aims to address this by developing a blueprint for an emerging Australian seaweed industry. It includes an action plan to increase the value of Australia’s seaweed industry to at least $10 million over the next five years.
In a second step, a development blueprint will be created for the industry to grow to over $1 billion by 2040.
The Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, which also participates in the project, agrees that there is an "enormous opportunity for macroalgae aquaculture” in Australia.
In fact, Seaweed may even help reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as recent findings suggest it can improve gut health in cattle, and according to information obtained from the ASI website, thus reduce methane emissions by over 80 per cent.