Bantry Marine Research Station

NORI

Duration 3 years
Funding Body Marine Institute
Project Costs €548,745 (funded €449,022)
Project Co-ordinator Bantry Marine Research Station LTD
Number of Partners 2

Why cultivating Atlantic Nori?

The European seaweed market is expanding as demand grows for sustainable, nutritious and health-promoting foods, and cosmeceuticals. The EU cannot rely on imports or wild harvested biomass for high-valued and low-abundance species such as Atlantic-Nori, thus aquaculture will supply high-quality, traceable, and safe biomass for seaweed-derived products.

Objectives

  • Implement sexual and clonal propagation strategies of Porphyra umbilicalis.
  • Develop year-round nursery protocols and establish a biobank
  • Optimize biomass yield and nutritional quality.
  • Benchmark produced biomass against EU end-user specifications.

Selected species

Herbarium bladeSexual blade PU9.2.090625

Porphyra umbilicalis

  • Native to the Atlantic.
  • Nutritional profile: high protein and fibre, balanced iodine and micronutrients with reported health benefits [1] [2].
  • The total EU production (3–4 dry tons/year) is insufficient to meet the increasing demand for this biomass (food, nutraceuticals, cosmetics) [3].

Project overview

Work package 1: Culture and biobanking

  • Identify and monitor sexual and asexual wild populations.
  • Produce biomass via clonal and sexual reproduction strategies.
  • Create a biobank.
Sampling site 2Detail of a P. umbilicalis patch growing on barnacles among mixed green seaweeds.
Nursery labSeaweed nursery laboratory.

Work package 2: Production and Optimization

  • Scale-up biomass production in tanks and perform trials at sea.
  • Enhance nutritional and bioactive composition.
Conchocelis evolutionEvolution of a an isolated zygotospore, from germinating conchocelis (A) to further branched conchocelis with few conchosporangial filaments developing at the center (B).
Conchosporangia and conchosporesConchosporangia releasing conchospores.

Work package 3: Techno-Economic & Market Analysis

  • Evaluate feasibility of cultivation systems.
  • Assess market acceptance for food and nutraceuticals.
Tank productionBiomass of a clonal P. umbilicalis strain grown in a 400 L tank.
Young blades 1 x2 5 croppedClose up view of young clonal P. umbilicalis blades under a dissection microscope. (X2.5)

Work package 4: Coordination & Dissemination

  • Project coordination.
  • Peer-reviewed publications.
  • Stakeholder engagement.

Expected results

  • A biobank of sexual and clonal strains.
  • A fully operational, year-round nursery.
  • Establishment of commercial-ready cultivation protocols.
  • Quantification of the effects of environmental stressors on key bioactive compounds.
nori lab sqSmall scale cultivation of clonal blades under controlled conditions.
Young blades 3 x08 croppedClose up view of young clonal P. umbilicalis blades under a dissection microscope. (X0.8)

Current status (last updated in September 2026)

Mature wild sexual blade (female) showing signs of spore release on the margins.

  • Two genetically confirmed P. umbilicalis clonal strains scaling up.
  • Biobank containing 12 isolated sexual strains and 2 isolated clonal strains.
  • Wild specimens collected from 15 sites along the south-western coast of Ireland.
  • 2025: 12-month survey of wild populations in two sites, assessing abundance, quality, and reproductive status.
  • 2026: sampling conducted across 7 different sites over a 7-month period, with each site sampled during selected months rather than on a monthly basis.
sampling siteExample of a monitored P. umbilicalis population.
Wild bladeMature wild sexual blade (female) showing signs of spore release on the margins.

 

Nori blade release spores that will grow into new bladesSection of a sexual P. umbilicalis blade (female) releasing zygotospores. (X5)
A juvenile Nori blade magnified with a microscopeJuvenile clonal P. umbilicalis blade under an inverted microscope. (X20)

This project has received funding from The Marine Institute - Industry Led Awards 2024, under the grant No IND/24/005.

[1] Da Costa, E., Azevedo, V., Melo, T., Rego, A. M., Evtuguin, D. V., Domingues, P., Calado, R., Pereira, R., Abreu, M. H., & Domingues, M. R. (2018). High-Resolution Lipidomics of the Early Life Stages of the Red Seaweed Porphyra dioica. Molecules, 23(1), 187.

[2] Pimentel, F. B., Machado, M., Cermeño, M., Kleekayai, T., Machado, S., Rego, A. M., Abreu, M. H., Alves, R. C., Oliveira, M. B. P. P., & FitzGerald, R. J. (2021). Enzyme-Assisted Release of Antioxidant Peptides from Porphyra dioica Conchocelis. Antioxidants, 10(2), 249.

[3] FAO. (2024). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024: Blue Transformation in Action. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

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