STORY / PUBLIC SOURCE RECORD
Norway is building an emerging seaweed industry
- Published 21 August 2026; updated 7 September 2026; estimated reading time 5 minutes. Norway’s commercial seaweed sector is described as little more than a decade old, with modest volumes but companies and research groups across wild harvest, cultivation, seed production and food/product development. The article reports 44 seaweed-related companies; wild harvests of 150,000–200,000 tonnes/year of Laminaria hyperborea and Ascophyllum nodosum for alginate; and cultivated kelp production peaking at 600 tonnes in 2023, mainly sugar kelp and winged kelp.
- Infrastructure named includes Norwegian Seafood Cluster, Norwegian Seaweed Centre and an upcoming SINTEF Ocean-led Centre for Research-based Innovation on seaweed. The article says development of technologies and markets, rather than biomass availability, is the scale-up challenge. It cites SINTEF Ocean CEO Vegar Johansen’s projection that Norway could produce over 20 million tonnes of macro- and microalgae by 2050, for a market exceeding USD 4 billion; this is a future scenario, not current output/value.
- Seaweed Solutions focuses on seed production, juvenile plants, farming and mechanization. The Northern Company harvests wild kelp; Lofoten Seaweed develops consumer food products. Potential applications discussed include food, feed, textiles/fibres, biofuel, biostimulants and plastic alternatives. The article also cites seaweed’s nutrient uptake, carbon absorption and habitat benefits, and says cultivation can avoid farmland, feed and pesticides (with qualifications for fertilisers and small farms).
- Founder/CEO Zoe Christiansen of The Northern Company describes Norway’s clean cold coastal waters and currents as favourable for brown seaweed. The sector’s production and market claims cite a 2025 European seaweed-industry roadmap and a SINTEF 2050 ocean-value report. Related industry: Aquaculture and fisheries. No direct contact block shown.