Recommendations to support the EU seaweed and algae sector

Welcome to the fourth episode of our 5-part "Turtle Talks" series, developed in collaboration with The Seaweed Company (TSC)!

In this episode,  Peter sits down with Stefan Kraan (TSC),  Felix Leinmann (DG Mare), and Vitor Verdelho (EABA) to explore the European perspective on seaweed, and algae farming and markets.

Stefan Kraan is a science driven entrepreneur. Born in The Netherlands, he moved to Ireland to pursue a PhD on phylogenetics and aquaculture of edible seaweeds at the National University of Ireland, Galway in 1998. He became manager of the Irish Seaweed Industry Organisation in 1998 and finished his PhD in 2001. He established the Irish Seaweed Centre in 2001, a dedicated R&D centre for seaweed-based research and development, which was launched in 2001.  Dr Kraan co-founded Ocean Harvest Technology Ltd, a company that has produced Oceanfeed™, a seaweed based functional feed ingredient for the fish farming industry and other aquaculture industries. He is currently CSO of The Seaweed Company. Dr Kraan’s main fields of expertise are aquaculture of seaweeds, sustainable development of algal resources, industrial applications of seaweeds and usage of seaweeds in aquaculture, biotechnology and biomedicine.

Felix Leinemann is Head of Unit for Blue Economy Sectors, Aquaculture and Maritime Spatial Planning in the Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. He and his team promote a sustainable blue economy for the benefit of humankind and the oceans, and put forward the EU Algae Initiative in 2022. Felix has worked for the European Commission since 2003 on various policies including fisheries and maritime policy, shipping, aviation and urban transport, as well as the EU's global navigation satellite system Galileo.

Born in Porto, Portugal, on March 9th, 1966, Vitor Verdelho holds a degree in Physics from the Sciences Faculty of Porto University. With over 25 years of experience in biotechnology projects, Vitor is a Co-Founder and shareholder of Necton, SA, a marine biotechnology company established in 1997. Necton's ventures encompass the commercial production of traditional sea salt and microalgae. In 2008, Vitor embarked on another entrepreneurial journey as a Co-Founder and shareholder of A4F – Algae for Future SA. Currently, he serves as the CEO and co-founder of Cell4Food, a pioneering company in the 'cultivated meat' segment of cellular agriculture since 2022. Throughout his career, he has actively participated in over 20 European and 40 National research projects across various frameworks and programs, collaborating with more than 100 partner organizations throughout Europe. He has held the role of General Manager of the European Algae Biomass Association since 2015, representing the Algae Biomass sector. Over the past three decades, he has honed a diverse set of teaching and management skills in various domains, directly mentoring over 200 start-ups across different frameworks. Furthermore, he is privileged to serve as a Visiting Professor at the Catolica Porto Business School and has contributed as a Co-Author to the trilogy of books titled "The Business Case Roadmap.”


In this episode, some highlights include:

0:01:40 - Introductions 
0:02:24 - Experiences working with algae and seaweed over the years?
0:04:40 - Updates on EU4Algae 
0:10:30 - Creating standards for the algae sector...
0:13:00 - Working together to solve challenges like contamination.
0:14:00 - The seaweed potential in Europe and why Ireland is well-positioned?
0:15:00 - Perspectives on wind-farming meets seaweed farming.
0:16:00 - Hurdles for developing the European sector.
0:18:00 - Recommendations to stimulate the EU seaweed and microalgae sectors.
0:22:30 - How to raise ambition levels for governments in the EU? And how do we ensure they follow recommendations?