Collaborative
Washington State Kelp Growers
Published: Washington Seaweed Aquaculture Roadmap
The Roadmap to a Thriving Seaweed Aquaculture Industry in Washington State articulates the current state of Washington’s seaweed farming sector and identifies the critical activities and priority next steps that can catalyze long-term industry success. Developed through extensive discussions with every permitted seaweed farmer in Washington state, alongside interviews with a diverse set of West Coast industry stakeholders and a suite of targeted, in-depth analyses, the report aims to reduce uncertainty surrounding the region’s aquaculture future.
This landmark report serves as the culmination of an 18-month planning grant for the Washington Kelp Growers Collaborative, funded by Builders Vision in late 2024.
Washington State Kelp Growers Collaborative - Project Details
Mission
Maritime Blue administered an 18-month planning grant to investigate and design collaborative structures that will support Washington’s emerging seaweed industry. Working with established growers, we aim to determine optimal approaches for market development, shared infrastructure, and industry growth. This planning grant wrapped up in June 2025 with the release of the Roadmap to a Thriving Seaweed Aquaculture Industry in Washington State.
Partners
What's Next?
The conclusions presented in the Washington Seaweed Aquaculture Roadmap are clear: Washington can become a regional hub for secondary processing, distribution, and innovation of seaweed products from across the West Coast. And by doing so, the state can catalyze regional sector development while simultaneously broadening opportunities for local farms, advancing a model for successful small-scale seaweed farming with global relevance.
To help the industry reach its full potential, the Roadmap outlines two parallel strategic pathways that must be progressed simultaneously:
- Supporting Small-Scale Farms: Boosting the economic viability of Washington’s small-scale seaweed farms by growing right-sized markets and expanding cross-sector collaboration.
- Establishing a Regional Processing Hub: Investing in Washington’s potential to serve as a secondary processing hub for the broader West Coast, with a specific focus on processing seaweed production coming from Alaska and British Columbia.
It also includes specific recommendations aim to catalyze the continued research, investment, and collaboration needed to ensure this industry succeeds in a sustainable, equitable, and economically viable way.
Maritime Blue and our partners are exploring opportunities to advance these recommendations and priority activities.
The State of Washington Seaweed Farming
Seaweed farming represents a sustainable form of mariculture with significant environmental benefits and economic potential. Along with minimal resource requirements, by absorbing excess nutrients and carbon dioxide, seaweed farms contribute to healthier marine ecosystems. Washington’s emerging seaweed industry has the potential to support local economies, create green jobs, and catalyze regional innovations that can serve as a model for sustainable aquaculture nationwide.
Washington has two active kelp farms, another permitted, awaiting their lease.
As Washington’s seaweed industry moves forward, this initiative is shaping a robust framework to support kelp growers and scale production across the state. Immediate solutions for processing and long-term economic planning will together build the foundations for a sustainable and profitable seaweed sector.
Resources
As part of this initaitive, Maritime Blue and our partners comissioned a number of supporting analyses to help clarify Washington’s potential unique role in local, domestic, and international seaweed industry, including the best opportunities for economic growth and success. Published results of these analyses can be downloaded here:
Published: Washington Seaweed Aquaculture Economic Potential Analysis Report
A new economic analysis commissioned by Maritime Blue and Ocean Strategies with Confluence Environmental Company and Greene Economics, LLC analyzes the economic potential of the seaweed aquaculture industry in Washington State, focusing on seaweed production (ocean-based only), the seaweed product supply chain, and related processing infrastructure.
REPORT: A systems and equity framework analysis of the Pacific Northwest’s kelp supply chain
As part of the capstone project requirement for University of California, Berkeley Master of Development Practice program, and in support of this project, Charlotte McGoldrick conducted an in-depth analysis of transportation corridors and equitable ownership structures that could be available to support the advancement of coordinated seaweed aquaculture industry across the greater Pacific Northwest.