Forsøgsdyrkning af tang i Grønland. Gennemprøvning af metode. Technical Report No. 114

There is an increasing interest in seaweed for food, fodder, in cosmetics, as functional ingredients, and for biofuel. Harvest of wild stocks cannot cover the demand globally and the main part 
of the biomass for industry are in fact cultivated.
The wild stocks of seaweed in Greenland have yet not been exploited. However, harvest of wild 
stock may result in ecological side effects and consequences. Further, by cultivation, it is possible 
to produce biomass of a selected species and of high quality. Therefore, we considered that it 
was worthwhile to investigate whether kelp cultivation was an option in Greenland. Kelp species 
are cultivated on lines at sea in most countries in the North Atlantic, but under temperate environmental conditions, and not Arctic, as in Greenland.
We based the cultivation trial on already established cultivation protocols for sporulation, inoculation and development of sporelings on seed lines for kelp species, and which were adapted to 
Danish and Faroese conditions. We used the protocol for cultivation of the two kelp species 
Alaria esculenta and Saccharina spp. for being able to compare the results for the same species 
cultivated in the Faroe Islands. The procedure of the protocol is explained in the report.
The results from the pilot cultivation is a proof of concept in Greenland and the elongation 
growth is comparable with those obtained in the Faroe Islands. For commercial amounts of biomass, the method needs optimisation, which include management of challenges such as sea ice 
and ice bergs.