Manhattan, NY – Fiora Mara, a trailblazer in seaweed carbon capture space, has just completed a monumental project – the build and setup of an innovative seaweed hatchery. This experiment, transforming a traditionally dirty warehouse space into a functional seaweed hatchery, represents a significant step in our mission to play our role in helping to mitigate climate change and to ensure a healthier future for our planet. If successful, this project will pave the way for our long-term vision of building seaweed hatcheries on barges, providing our teams with a fresh source of seeded seaweed grow lines for use on the open ocean.
Controlled Clean-Room Environment
At the heart of our new facility is a meticulously designed clean-room environment. This space is housed within a warehouse and features positive pressure to prevent contaminants, ensuring our seaweed thrives in optimized conditions. This level of care underscores our commitment to preventing contamination, enhancing growth conditions and overcoming obstacles when our design is moved to a barge on the ocean.
Aquaculture Tanks Ready for Action
We’ve also completed the setup of our first two aquaculture tanks. The first tank is dedicated to growing sugar kelp on grow lines, promising a robust and healthy yield. The second tank is set aside for experimental purposes, where we are excited to be the first hatchery to explore the potential of growing Ulva plantlets on grow lines – with the hopes of establishing a summer crop.
Ready Access to Sea Water
To streamline our operations, we’ve collected many gallons of ocean water that are stored on-site for easy access. This ensures that our tanks will always be supplied with the most suitable water, which is crucial for optimizing the growth of our seaweed.
Advanced Transitional Working Area
Our transitional working area is now fully developed and equipped. Here, we measure our progress with high-precision microscopes, organize additional nutrients to maintain a healthy water environment, perform miscellaneous tasks and manage spools of seed-lines that are cut and configured to perfection.
This space is designed to be the versatile nerve center of our operations, where our progress meets practical application.
The Next Stage: Introducing Seaweed Spores
With everything in place, we are now prepared for the next stage: introducing seaweed spores. This step will officially kick off the growth phase for our seaweed grow lines, enabling us to both verify our methods and make changes as needed.
Stay tuned for more updates as Fiora Mara pushes forward in the goal to help save the planet. Our journey has just begun, and we can’t wait to share our progress with you!
