2023 National Seaweed Symposium Agenda
Conference Agenda
Please check back for updates as the conference approaches.
Monday, April 24th
Registration opens 4:00 PM
Evening welcome reception at Portland Hunt and Alpine, 6:00 – 8:00PM
Tuesday, April 25th
8:45 – 9:15 AM Welcome Session
Including a report on the National Sea Grant Seaweed Hub and a state-by-state overview of seaweed farming in the US.
Jaclyn Robidoux, Seaweed Extension Agent, Maine Sea Grant
Anoushka Concepcion, Associate Extension Educator, Connecticut Sea Grant
Melissa Good, Mariculture Specialist, Alaska Sea Grant
9:15 – 9:50 AM Keynote Address: Seaweed for Community and Culture
Keolani Booth, Tribal Councilman, Metlakatla Indian Community
Briana Warner, CEO, Atlantic Sea Farms
10:00 – 11:15 AM Regulations: Permitting and Food Safety
This session will address national priorities related to regulations, including permitting and food safety, and will feature invited presentations from federal agencies, food safety experts, and industry representatives.
Cathy Janasie, Senior Research Council, The National Sea Grant Law Center
Emanuel Hignutt, Office of Food Safety, FDA
Jennifer Perry, School of Food and Agriculture, The University of Maine
Michael Ciaramella, Seafood Technology Specialist, New York Sea Grant
Kevin Madley, Regional Aquaculture Coordinator, NOAA Fisheries
Alicia Bishop, Regional Aquaculture Coordinator, NOAA Fisheries
Sebastian Belle, Executive Director, The Maine Aquaculture Association
11:15 AM – 12:05 PM Production Systems: Nurseries and Farms
In this session, we’ll hear from experts and industry on nursery and farm systems, including innovations in seed technology, production of alternative species, and farm operation efficiency and scale.
Anoushka Concepcion, Associate Extension Educator, Connecticut Sea Grant
Scott Lindell, Research Specialist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Norman Clough, Technology Leader, W.L. Gore & Associates
Simona Augyte, Macroalgae Science Lead, Ocean Era
12:05 – 1:00 PM Lunch
1:00 – 1:45 PM Production Systems: Farmer Panel
Hear from kelp farmers from around the U.S. about their experiences on the water
Jamie Bassett, Chatham Kelp (MA)
Donna Collins-Smith, Shinnecock Kelp Farmers (NY)
Joth Davis, Blue Dot Sea Farm (WA)
Nick Mangini, Kodiak Island Sustainable Seaweed (AK)
Matt Moretti, Bangs Island Mussels (ME)
1:45 – 2:15 PM Economics and Business Planning
This session will address new resources available to farms and lenders, including industry benchmarking reports and business planning tools for nurseries and farms.
Christian Brayden, Project Manager, The Maine Aquaculture Association
Robert Pomeroy, Professor Emeritus, The University of Connecticut
2:30 – 3:45 PM Social License: Exploring Challenges and Opportunities in Social License
Facilitated by partners at the World Wildlife Fund, this interactive session will present social license research and tools and get us talking about relevant case studies.
WWF-US Aquaculture Team Members: Annie Li, Todd Paige
Emily Whitmore, Social Scientist, Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center
3:45 – 5:30 PM Lightning Talks and Networking Session
Lightning talks in this session will highlight new research, products, and resources! We’ll host these talks alongside networking breaks and a happy hour for a new kind of poster session.
Wednesday, April 26th
Morning/Afternoon Field Trips
Wednesday is our field day! Field trips which will include boat tours to kelp farms, inside looks at Portland’s working waterfront infrastructure, processing and cooking workshops, and walking tours to local food and beverage businesses working to bring seaweed to end consumers.
4:00 – 6:00 PM Seaweed Showcase
The Seaweed Showcase is an interactive table and exhibition featuring seaweed businesses, product producers, researchers, nonprofit organizations, and more. Expect to see new seaweed products, research and gear demos, tools and take-home resources, and chat with seaweed farms, research teams, business planners, marketing professionals, and more! The showcase will take place during happy hour, with many seaweed samples and products to try!
Location: The Westin Grand Ballroom
Thursday, April 27th
9:00 – 10:25 AM Post-Harvest and Processing
During this session, we’ll address national priorities related to post-harvest and process including product composition, processing at scale, and product development.
Melissa Good, Mariculture Specialist, Alaska Sea Grant
Steve Eddy, Science Advisor, Maine Coast Sea Vegetables
Peter Rahn, Director of Quality and Food Innovation, Atlantic Sea Farms
Mitch Lench, CEO, Ocean’s Balance
Jessica Chalmers, Co-founder, Everything Seaweed
10:40 AM – 12:15 PM Market Opportunities
This session will include current global and domestic seaweed market reports, address emerging markets and feasibility, and discuss with industry experts their efforts to advance markets for US seaweed products.
Jaclyn Robidoux, Seaweed Extension Agent, Maine Sea Grant
Karlotta Rieve, Project Manager, Hatch Blue
Qiujie Zheng, Maine Business School, The University of Maine
Adam St. Gelais, Aquaculture Innovation Specialist, Aquaculture Research Institute
Panelists:
Briana Warner, CEO, Atlantic Sea Farms
Lia Heifetz, Co-founder, Barnacle Foods
Julia Marsh, Co-founder and CEO, Sway
12:15 – 1:15 PM Lunch
1:15 – 2:25 PM Global Production and Innovation
As seaweed production grows in the US, this session will look to partners and projects that are innovating in the global seaweed space.
Nichola Dyer, Lead, The Safe Seaweed Coalition
Karlotta Rieve, Project Manager, Hatch Blue
Susan Løvstad Holdt, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark
2:40 – 4:00 PM Seaweed and Climate
Our final session will feature expert presentations and discussions that highlight seaweed’s emerging role in climate and blue carbon initiatives and efforts in the US, in partnership with Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.
6:00 – 8:00 PM Seaweed Social
All are invited to this Seaweed Social to celebrate the end of the 2023 National Seaweed Symposium! We’ll be hosted by Oxbow Blending & Bottling, Portland’s favorite farmhouse brewery.