Aird Fada Seaweed Farm : South West Mull and Iona Development

Aird Fada Seaweed Farm

Seaweed farming is a growing global industry and seaweed is in high demand for a multitude of uses from culinary, to horticultural, agricultural and bio-plastics to cosmetics and clothing.

In the UK the seaweed farm industry is still relatively young and we are very proud that our 6 hectare seaweed farm at Aird Fada is the largest in the UK and the only community-owned seaweed farm in Scotland.

We have been lucky enough to be supported in this venture by collaboration with Delfinity Ltd, Argyll Aquaculture Resource Consultants, SAMS (the Scottish Association of Marine Science), HIE (Highlands and Islands Enterprise), Argyll and Bute Council and Inverlussa Marine Services on Mull in exploring the practicalities and viability of a community seaweed farm.

We are also very grateful to the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund - without their financial support we could not have moved forward with this project.

INFRASTRUCTURE INSTALLED

Thanks to a grant from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, in Summer 2021 we were able to install infrastructure our 6 hectare site at Aird Fada in Loch Scridain.

OUR FIRST SEASON!

Farmed seaweed grows from seeds embedded in lines attached to the infrastructure. In October 2021 we laid 6km of seeded line - this is about a third of the capacity of the farm. We are hoping for a good growing season before harvest time next Spring!

WET, CHILLED AND DRY SEAWEED

Seaweed can be sold as a wet, chilled or dry material and we are looking at options to develop shore side facilities at Bendoran to give us the flexibility to respond to market preferences.

EMPLOYMENT

Thanks to funding from Highlands and Islands Enterprise we have employed a Graduate Placement, Leigh Eisler, to carry out evaluation, monitoring and research to help us plan for the development of the farm. There will also be contract work for local fishermen.

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES

In the future we plan to increase our seaweed harvest and create more employment and training opportunities. We also hope to add value to the raw seaweed, either by developing our own valued added products or by selling seaweed to local businesses.

Aird Fada Seaweed Farm

What we’re working on…

INFRASTRUCTURE INSTALLED

OUR FIRST SEASON!

WET, CHILLED AND DRY SEAWEED

EMPLOYMENT

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES

Volunteer with us

THIS PROJECT WAS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THANKS TO...