It is an exciting time to be in our business as our grant money has enabled us to make accelerated progress, hiring the right experts to bring us to the next level and being able to spend on equipment to produce closer to real-world scenarios for us to test in.

Stealth mode is required at this juncture but we are overly excited for when we can share our advanced designs, methods, and techniques – alongside all of our more professional equipment! But that time is not now. Perhaps soon.

Today we celebrate the success of our live seaweed experiment, where we took fresh seaweed, carefully extracted the sorus tissue (seaweed spores), and attached them to grow lines in our hatchery’s grow tanks. Over time, we nursed these seeded lines until they developed into healthy plantlets, ready for oceanic deployment. This process not only demonstrates our ability to cultivate seaweed independently but also reinforces our capability to scale our solution efficiently.

Our unconventional, Breaking Bad-style RV biological clean-room has proven to be a game-changer. Not only has it allowed us to convert live seaweed into viable plantlets on grow lines, but it has also demonstrated success in transitioning gametophytes to plantlets. These results validate our ability to create a sterile, controlled environment for seaweed cultivation—an essential step in scaling our operations while maintaining quality and consistency.

This success marks a pivotal moment for Fiora Mara. By proving that our methods work, we’re laying the foundation for a scalable and sustainable system that will drive our mission forward. We’re excited about what’s next—refining our processes, expanding our capabilities, and taking the next steps toward deploying our biodegradable seaweed farms in the open ocean. Stay tuned as we continue to push the boundaries of innovation in ocean-based carbon sequestration.

Our decision to join this program reflects the alignment of our goals: AirMiners provides critical support to emerging companies, does not take equity, and brings together experts and partners dedicated to climate solutions that focus on decarbonization. We look forward to learning from their network and leveraging their resources to amplify our impact.

This milestone comes after key achievements at Fiora Mara, including developing a deployable seaweed hatchery, growing plantlets from both gametophytes and spores on deployable grow lines in our hatchery, testing biodegradable materials on the ocean, launching our first prototype seaweed farm, and establishing vital partnerships. Participating in AirMiners Launchpad marks a pivotal step in our journey as we build toward scaling our solution and securing future investment.

We are excited for this next chapter in our journey to become a force in carbon sequestration

At Fiora Mara, we are committed to sustainable aquaculture and to cultivating seaweed in a way that benefits both the environment and the communities we serve. Recently, with our partnership with Hart Hatchery, we collected live seaweed from the waters off the coast of Long Island and began extracting the seaweed sorus (seeds) for re-planting. This is a second method of growing seaweed plantlets on grow lines, the first is the gametophyte(1,2) method, which was a huge success for us. This effort is part of our long-term strategy to source seaweed from the regions that we operate in, ensuring that we only grow plants that are well-suited to local ecosystems, avoiding any negative impact on their natural balance.

1. Collecting Live Seaweed from Long Island

In collaboration with Hartland Lobster, our team obtained live seaweed from the rich, biodiverse waters off Long Island. This step is key to our cultivation process, as we aim to support local biodiversity and create resilient, regionally adapted seaweed populations. By sourcing seaweed directly from the areas where we intend to operate, we ensure that the plants we grow are genetically diverse and well-suited to thrive.

2. Transporting to Our Pilot Seaweed Hatchery in New Jersey

Once the seaweed was collected, it was carefully transported to our pilot seaweed hatchery in New Jersey. The journey was managed with great attention to detail to preserve the health of the seaweed, ensuring that it arrived at our facility in optimal condition for the next phase of processing and cultivation.

3. Processing the Seaweed to Extract Sorus Tissue

At our hatchery, we began processing the live seaweed to encourage it to release sorus tissue, a crucial step in our seaweed cultivation process. Sorus contains spores that are essential for growing seaweed plantlets from scratch on our grow lines. The extraction requires precision and care to ensure the sorus is extracted properly, to help ensure optimal results.

4. 24 Hours of Careful Cultivation

After approximately 20 hours of processing, the sorus tissue was successfully released into our beakers. We then transferred it into our grow tanks, where it was kept in the dark for 24 hours to settle and stabilize. This incubation period is crucial for preparing the sorus to attach to our grow lines and to begin their next stages of development. Once the 24 hours passed, we exposed the sorus to light, which triggered the growth cycle and set the stage for the plantlets to begin developing.

5. Supporting Local Ecosystems Through Localized Cultivation

This successful process is an important step in Fiora Mara’s long-term goal of growing localized seaweed based on the varied areas that we operate. It is a way to ensure that our seaweed is adapted to their natural surroundings and by using local strains we promote an approach where we minimize the risks associated with introducing non-native species and promotes the growth of sustainable, resilient seaweed.

We are pleased with the success of this first big step of the grow process and look forward to expanding our efforts in other regions. With each step, Fiora Mara is closer to achieving its goal of growing seaweed around the world and capturing the massive amount of carbon that seaweed stores for the long term.

Step by Step – How we got here

Reaching this point has been a journey filled with challenges, learnings, and triumphs. Here’s how we got here:

1. Building and Preparing the Seaweed Hatchery: We began by designing, configuring, and building our seaweed hatchery. This facility would serve as the critical starting point for nurturing seaweed from its earliest stages to deployment readiness in the purposefully challenging environment of a shared warehouse space.
2. Obtaining Gametophytes: The process continued with sourcing gametophytes from Bigelow Labs, renowned for their expertise in ocean science and for their robust collection of live gametophytes from across the globe. These tiny organisms were the foundation of our work.
3. Hatchery Nurturing: At our seaweed hatchery, we processed the gametophytes, attaching them to grow lines and carefully nurturing them in our grow tank. This required constant monitoring, balancing of nutrients, and ocean water maintenance to ensure their health and growth.
4. Transition to Deployment: Once these microscopic organisms matured into plantlets on our grow lines – in our grow tank, we prepared them for deployment. This involved moving them to a specially designed capsule, optimized for their safe transition to the open water.
5. Farm Construction: Drawing on our earlier material studies, we constructed our pilot seaweed farm—a design that is scalable, eco-friendly, and perfectly suited to our mission of carbon sequestration.
6. The Launch: Finally, at the RETI Center, we launched our seaweed farm into the water. This moment was the culmination of months of preparation, research, and practice.

Reflecting on the First Step

The journey to this launch was not simply smooth sailing. At every stage, there was a sense of nervousness—a natural byproduct of attempting something new and uncharted. But that energy drove us. It pushed us to dig deeper into our research, refine our methods, and practice tirelessly until we could confidently execute each step.

This experience reminded us that progress isn’t just about having a great idea. It’s about translating that idea into action, one deliberate step at a time. We’ve learned that doing the work—in the lab, gathering supplies from ocean water to a chiller, and out on the water—is where true innovation happens. While this first launch was exhilarating, we’re looking ahead to our next steps with the confidence of a team that’s been through the gauntlet and emerged stronger.

What’s Next?

This launch is just the beginning. With the the lessons learned from this pilot, we’re ready to scale up our efforts and continue refining our approach. Next time we’ll be able to complete these tasks with the steadiness of experience and the excitement of knowing we’re contributing to a healthier planet.

We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished so far and grateful for everyone who’s been part of this journey. The first time is always the most exciting, but it’s also the foundation for what comes next. Stay tuned—we’re just getting started.

This achievement is significant for two reasons: first, it confirms that our innovative hatchery design works effectively, even when operated in a challenging, active warehouse environment. Second, it demonstrates that our methods for cultivating gametophytes into plantlets on grow lines perform exactly as intended.

With this success under our belts, we’re now preparing to take the next bold step. The seed string produced from this trial will soon be deployed on our uniquely designed seaweed farm, set to launch in the open ocean. Stay tuned as we continue pushing the boundaries of scalable, ocean-based carbon sequestration.

At Fiora Mara, every step in our journey to sink seaweed and sequester carbon begins with collaboration and care. This week, we had the pleasure of meeting with Lizzie from Hart Lobster in West Sayville, Long Island. Lizzie’s expertise was invaluable as she helped us organize a batch of mature, sorus-filled seaweed—an essential resource for confirming our methods of growing plantlets on seed lines. Proving these methods is a critical milestone that brings us closer to the next stage of our business.

The seaweed made its way to our hatchery, where it will be carefully processed. Our goal? To isolate and activate the sorus portion, encouraging it to attach to our seed lines and kick off the growth process in our nursery. Packed snugly in a cooler, it earned the VIP treatment while on it’s way to our hatchery. It was strapped into the front passenger seat and treated with the care or the millions of potential seaweed babies (sorus tissue!) that it contains.

Now that the seaweed has arrived safely, we’re eager to begin processing it. We’re optimistic about a successful spore release, setting the stage for a thriving hatchery and another leap forward in our mission to combat climate change.

With the male and female gametophytes being combined and applied to the grow lines that are wrapped around PVC piping, we’ve entered the early stages of nurturing them to maturity. This initial test is focused on evaluating our hatchery processes and our methods for growing gametophytes into plantlets in our tanks. Our future tests will explore different methods, including working with seaweed spores.

Conducted in a shared warehouse space, this experiment aims to demonstrate that our hatchery can maintain a clean, contamination-free environment while functioning under challenging conditions. Success in this phase will confirm that our hatchery design is capable of being constructed at any location, producing deployment-ready seedlings, adaptable to more rugged settings like an ocean bound barge.

This testing is essential for achieving our long-term vision: creating a portable hatchery that can be deployed from barges during oceanic journeys. By using collecting seaweed and isolating gametophytes from the varied regions where we operate, we aim to seed our self-sinking, biodegradable seaweed farms directly in the ocean. Proving the effectiveness of our hatchery design ensures that our methods are scalable and capable of supporting barge-based operations, driving large-scale carbon removal globally.

As we refine our hatchery and progress toward full-scale ocean deployment, we’re taking another exciting step closer to realizing our vision for the future – where seaweed plays a crucial role in capturing significant amounts of carbon while protecting the ocean.

– Bamboo

– Marijuana hemp rope

– Manilla hemp rope

– Jute rope

– Bio-rope

– Mushroom-based mesh

– Two kinds of hemp twine

About Fiora Mara

At Fiora Mara, we are dedicated to developing innovative solutions for seaweed farming technology aimed at decarbonization. Our goal with this test is to make progress towards creating a 100% biodegradable seaweed farm that can be deployed in the open ocean and successfully grow seaweed to maturity. To achieve this, we continuously experiment with various materials to identify the most effective and sustainable options. Our current test at RETI Center in Brooklyn, New York, is a significant step toward realizing this vision.

Week 2: Early Observations

After the first two weeks, we observed that one of the hemp twines had broken, but all other materials remained securely attached to the bamboo pole. All of our ropes began to accumulate small amounts of algae and plants, making them a suitable home. This initial phase demonstrated the resilience of most materials under early exposure to ocean conditions.

Week 4: Growing Biodiversity and Twine Degradation

By the fourth week, one hemp twine had completely degraded and fallen off, while the other hemp twine was damaged but still holding on to the bamboo. The twines do not need to last forever, just long enough for our plantlets to grab onto the ropes. All of the ropes had accumulated various marine organisms, adding weight to the bamboo and creating a layer of algae over them. The ropes themselves remained quite strong; both in the knots used to attach them and when we pulled on them, there was no material loss. The mushroom mesh, however, had started to lose its structure, appearing more like a blob than a mesh, and its appearance was quite malleable. Interestingly, the bamboo itself hosted several plants, algae, and algae, yet remained afloat.

Week 6: Continued Durability

At the six-week mark, both hemp twines had fully fallen off. Despite the increasing weight from the marine life on the ropes, nearly all of them remained securely fastened to the bamboo, which continued to float and support a growing ecosystem of algae and other organisms. The organism growth is encouraging, showcasing that each rope will support the growth of seaweed on it when the time comes. The one exception was the Bio-rope, which had significantly less growth on it and yet remained exceedingly strong. This indicates that it may not be the best material to use in the long term. The mushroom mesh had almost entirely biodegraded, with only a single string still visible on the bamboo.

Ongoing Research and Future Prospects

This experiment is a crucial part of our ongoing efforts at Fiora Mara to develop a fully biodegradable seaweed farm. The insights gained so far will guide our future research and development, bringing us closer to our goal of creating sustainable and efficient carbon sequestration solutions. We are excited about the potential of these materials and will continue our testing to refine our approach further.

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to make the world a better place for all living things.

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!