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Wild Seaweed Harvesting: "The Next Big Industry in Iceland”? Ways to encourage sustainable harvesting and improve the regulatory framework on seaweed

Maack, Ásta LU (2019) In IIIEE Master Thesis IMEN41 20192
The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
Abstract (Swedish)
Brown seaweed or macro-algae are multicellular plant-like organisms that inhabit various shores surrounding West-America and Northern Europe. Seaweed deliver highly important ecosystem services and provide habitats and shelter for other species, serving as a food source and take part in the nutrient recycling of Silica, Phosphorus and Nitrogen on land and in the sea. Seaweed has been harvested for its high alginate content and is increasingly used as fertiliser in agricultural industries, as a thickening agent in cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, and for human consumption. As the wild seaweed harvesting industry has grown in recent years, experts have called for robust regulations that ensure sustainable exploitation. In direct... (More)
Brown seaweed or macro-algae are multicellular plant-like organisms that inhabit various shores surrounding West-America and Northern Europe. Seaweed deliver highly important ecosystem services and provide habitats and shelter for other species, serving as a food source and take part in the nutrient recycling of Silica, Phosphorus and Nitrogen on land and in the sea. Seaweed has been harvested for its high alginate content and is increasingly used as fertiliser in agricultural industries, as a thickening agent in cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, and for human consumption. As the wild seaweed harvesting industry has grown in recent years, experts have called for robust regulations that ensure sustainable exploitation. In direct response to lenient regulations, several organisations have published standards that aim to encourage sustainable exploitation of wild seaweed. These standards include criteria, recommendations and guidelines that harvesting companies are encouraged to follow. Iceland is one of the countries where wild seaweed are harvested, and a regulatory framework on wild seaweed harvesting was recently implemented. The goal of this framework is to promote sustainable utilisation of exploited marine stocks. The purpose of this research was to identify which ecological and economic criteria must be in place to ensure sustainable exploitation of wild seaweed. To this end, standards, the Icelandic seaweed regulatory framework and stakeholders’ interviews were explored. In addition, the author set out to analyse which criteria the Icelandic seaweed regulatory framework includes, and which alterations can be made to ensure continuous sustainable exploitation of wild seaweed in Iceland. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Maack, Ásta LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Wild Seaweed Harvesting in Iceland: Ways to encourage sustainable exploitation
course
IMEN41 20192
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Wild Seaweed, Seaweed Havresting, Natural Resource Management, Regulatory framework, Seaweed Regulation, Iceland
publication/series
IIIEE Master Thesis
report number
2019:30
ISSN
1401-9191
language
English
id
8997131
date added to LUP
2019-10-30 07:59:24
date last changed
2019-10-30 07:59:24
@misc{8997131,
  abstract     = {{Brown seaweed or macro-algae are multicellular plant-like organisms that inhabit various shores surrounding West-America and Northern Europe. Seaweed deliver highly important ecosystem services and provide habitats and shelter for other species, serving as a food source and take part in the nutrient recycling of Silica, Phosphorus and Nitrogen on land and in the sea. Seaweed has been harvested for its high alginate content and is increasingly used as fertiliser in agricultural industries, as a thickening agent in cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, and for human consumption. As the wild seaweed harvesting industry has grown in recent years, experts have called for robust regulations that ensure sustainable exploitation. In direct response to lenient regulations, several organisations have published standards that aim to encourage sustainable exploitation of wild seaweed. These standards include criteria, recommendations and guidelines that harvesting companies are encouraged to follow. Iceland is one of the countries where wild seaweed are harvested, and a regulatory framework on wild seaweed harvesting was recently implemented. The goal of this framework is to promote sustainable utilisation of exploited marine stocks. The purpose of this research was to identify which ecological and economic criteria must be in place to ensure sustainable exploitation of wild seaweed. To this end, standards, the Icelandic seaweed regulatory framework and stakeholders’ interviews were explored. In addition, the author set out to analyse which criteria the Icelandic seaweed regulatory framework includes, and which alterations can be made to ensure continuous sustainable exploitation of wild seaweed in Iceland.}},
  author       = {{Maack, Ásta}},
  issn         = {{1401-9191}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{IIIEE Master Thesis}},
  title        = {{Wild Seaweed Harvesting: "The Next Big Industry in Iceland”? Ways to encourage sustainable harvesting and improve the regulatory framework on seaweed}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}