North Atlantic

Partner

TARI

Country

Faroe Islands

Characteristics

  • Sea surface at 2-15ºC
  • Strong seasonality in photoperiod
  • Salinity of 32-35 PSU
  • Nutrient-rich from mixing and upwelling
  • High wave/tidal energy

Overview

At the Faroe Islands site, TARI operates across two distinct cultivation licenses designed to withstand the harsh climatic conditions of the North Atlantic. The project combines a land-based facility for initial propagation with an expansive off-shore farm to pioneer a weather-resilient maritime infrastructure model focused on multi-species polyculture and biodiversity enhancement.

Infrastructure and technical innovations

The operation links precision land-based seeding with specialised off-shore engineering to handle extreme maritime energy:

  • Land-based hatchery (Fámjin): A dedicated facility used for preliminary strain propagation, early-stage development, and the precise seeding of lines.
  • Off-Shore marine farm (Kaldbaksfjørður): A 27-hectare marine site exposed to open North Atlantic weather dynamics.
  • Features a custom-designed Marine Macroalgae Cultivation Rig (MMCR) utilising 9,000 meters of total cultivation rope.
  • The marine network is structurally reinforced with a specialised grid of plow anchors, tactical floats, and heavy-duty marine materials engineered to maintain integrity against intense wave and tidal energy during long-term operations.

Cultivated species and production goals

The site focuses on the concurrent polyculture of five different native seaweed species to maximise regional biological resilience:

  • Alaria esculenta: Cultivated on-site with an expected target yield of 12.5 t FW/y.
  • Saccharina latissima: Cultivated on-site with an expected target yield of 7.5 t FW/y.
  • Palmaria palmata: Cultivated on-site with an expected target yield of 3.8 t FW/y.
  • Porphyra umbilicalis: Cultivated on-site with an expected target yield of 0.6 t FW/y.
  • Ulva fenestrata: Cultivated on-site with an expected target yield of 0.6 t FW/y.

Total targeted seaweed production across this high-energy marine system scales to an expected 25.0 t FW/y.