Blue Horizon: Ocean Relief through Seaweed Aquaculture

The 'Blue Horizon: Ocean Relief through Seaweed Aquaculture' project aims to scale sustainable seaweed farming in the Philippines and Viet Nam. It focuses on transitioning production from nearshore to offshore areas to mitigate climate risks and pollution, while introducing biorefinery technologies to create higher-value, biodegradable products. The project establishes a regional framework via SEAFDEC to harmonize standards and a national enabling environment through marine spatial planning and the development of national seaweed plans. Key interventions include establishing demonstration farms for Kappaphycus and Caulerpa species, forming farmer cooperatives, and implementing a traceability system to ensure premium pricing for sustainable produce. The initiative targets 15,000 direct beneficiaries, with a strong emphasis on women's empowerment and the reduction of marine plastic pollution through the recycling of end-of-life fishing nets.

• The project aims to mitigate ocean eutrophication, acidification, and deoxygenation by utilizing seaweed's capacity to assimilate excess nutrients, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus, from coastal waters.
• Seaweed farming in the Philippines and Viet Nam is currently constrained by a lack of marine spatial plans and the prevalence of inshore farming, where users compete for space and crops are more vulnerable to pollution and climate-driven temperature increases.
• The project will establish six demonstration farms to prove the concept of offshore and off-the-coast farming: four for Eucheumatoid species (Kappaphycus and Eucheuma) in the Philippines and Viet Nam, and two for Caulerpa sp. in Viet Nam, including a model using degraded shrimp ponds.
• To increase farmer income and reduce waste, the project will pilot biorefinery solutions to produce high-value products such as bioplastics, fish feed, and fertilizers, moving away from the low-value raw dried seaweed (RDS) market.
• A regional approach led by SEAFDEC will involve the creation of a 'Guide to Promoting a Sustainable Seaweed Industry in the SEA Region' and 'Regional Principles of Responsible and Safe Seaweed Aquaculture' to harmonize standards across Southeast Asia.
• In the Philippines, the project will implement a traceability system using Koltiva SeaweedTrace software to verify that farmers meet social and environmental criteria, enabling them to access premium prices from global markets.
• The project targets 15,000 direct beneficiaries, specifically 11,000 women and 4,000 men, with a focus on empowering women through e-commerce training and leadership roles in cooperatives.
• To address marine plastic pollution, the project will implement an initiative to collect and recycle end-of-life monofilament Nylon 6 fishing nets, which are often discarded and cause 'ghost fishing'.
• The project will support the development of a National Seaweed Plan in Viet Nam and the translation of the Seaweed Industry Roadmap into local municipal ordinances in the Philippines.
• The project's total cost is USD 6,000,000, with an additional USD 9,306,269 in co-financing from sources including the World Wildlife Fund, the Safe Seaweed Coalition, and the governments of the Philippines and Viet Nam.

APA

WWF International (n.d.). Blue Horizon: Ocean Relief through Seaweed Aquaculture. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1029/77olt1ld9_WWF_GEF_Seaweed_ProDoc_Submission_4.pdf

Chicago

WWF International. Blue Horizon: Ocean Relief through Seaweed Aquaculture. n.d. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1029/77olt1ld9_WWF_GEF_Seaweed_ProDoc_Submission_4.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF International |title=Blue Horizon: Ocean Relief through Seaweed Aquaculture |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1029/77olt1ld9_WWF_GEF_Seaweed_ProDoc_Submission_4.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfinternationalndblue, author = {{WWF International}}, title = {{Blue Horizon: Ocean Relief through Seaweed Aquaculture}}, institution = {WWF International}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1029/77olt1ld9_WWF_GEF_Seaweed_ProDoc_Submission_4.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }