Australia's marine products industry is about to boom

10 Sep 2021

Tamar Zur

Tamar Zur is an agricultural technology consultancy based in Sydney, Australia, of Eco-Fly Ventures. The views expressed in this guest post are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of AFN.

The global food production system faces three challenges:

• The population is growing, which means we have to increase productivity to meet demand.
• Climate change is affecting the productivity of our traditional agricultural practices, so we must develop and adopt new, sustainable methods and technologies.
• Natural resources such as land, water and fish are being reduced or overused – so we need to find alternatives.

By 2050, the world's population is expected to reach 9.8 billion. Livestock, traditional crops and marine fisheries will not be able to meet the demand for protein. The facts are now clear. This sixth assessment report supports projections from data released last month by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that shocked the world, with continued global warming and drought in important food-growing regions of the world, including Australia. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that by 2050, the world does not have enough pasture and arable land to feed its population. Without changes in agriculture to increase protein productivity by 50% by 2050, an uncontrollable global protein shortage may be inevitable.

Beyond reduce, reuse and recycle – what can we do to address this triple challenge?

Australia is investing in R&D to support its burgeoning marine products industry to address this triple challenge.

One such initiative is the Collaborative Research Centre for Marine Bioproducts (MB-CRC), comprised of 11 research partners, 3 state governments, 5 third-party players and 49 industry partners, including algae farming startups such as Qponics, Ocean Forest, and Venus Shell Systems, which are tasked with driving the industry forward. This decade, a US$270 million (US$202 million) business, announced by the Australian government in June 2021, will produce valuable, sustainably produced marine products.

"Many resource economists around the world now predict that the rapid transition from aquaculture (second-generation marine biotechnology) to third-generation high-value marine products will further triple the value of the marine bioindustry to $712 billion per year by 2035," said John Ginn, Chair of the Methyl Bromide-Child Rights Committee and the Australian Integrated Ocean Observing System (IMOS).

"Our projections show that by 2035, MB-CRC industry partners will contribute $3 billion in export revenue to the Australian economy by expanding all elements of the marine products supply chain, leveraging clean green certificate certification protected by blockchain processes."

MB-CRC's mission is to rapidly expand Australia's emerging marine products industry through the sustainable development of the country's vast coastal marine and salt-tidal river resources. Using these, it will create high-value products and food proteins.

Algae will be a major focus and provide additional benefits in the form of carbon sequestration. Globally, microalgae and macroalgae produce about 50% of atmospheric oxygen, and about 2 kg of carbon dioxide is sequestered into their cells to produce 1 kg of biomass. Carbon-negative seaweed farms around Australia's coastline can be a source of revenue-generating carbon credits.

Australia's marine life resources are unique

The land has the third largest marine environment in the world, with pristine tidal rivers and plenty of sunshine – up to 95% of marine life resources are unique to the country.

These abundant natural resources provide Australia with the potential to become a global hub for algae farming, producing a variety of high-value products such as omega-3 fatty acids to ensure farm viability. Importantly, the by-product of extracting high-value products from algae is often biomass rich in protein and all essential amino acids.

Australia's unique biological resources can be used for plant proteins, health supplements, pharmaceuticals, high-value oils, bioplastics, etc. In addition, algae farms can provide sustainable environmental and economic benefits, while also creating carbon credits and permanent non-seasonal jobs in coastal Australia.

Algae farms – a drought-resistant food production system

Algae farms address multiple global environmental challenges. By cultivating macroalgae (seaweed and seaweed) and microalgae (single-celled photosynthetic organisms) in brine, the marine bioproducts industry can withstand the worst impacts of global warming.

Macroalgae can be cultured in offshore and terrestrial ponds, while microalgae are typically farmed on land, with outdoor ponds providing the most cost-effective culture. Since algae farming does not rely on fresh water, it can withstand Australia's increasingly severe and frequent droughts.

Freshwater use in protein production (l/tonne).

Source: FG Acién Fernández, JM Fernández Sevilla and E Molina Grima, "Cost Analysis of Microalgae Production" Algae Biofuels, Elsevier, 2019.

Image source: Eco-Fly Ventures

For example, producing 1 tonne of Australia's most popular protein – beef – requires more than 13 million litres of fresh water, while producing 1 tonne of marine microalgae does not require any fresh water.

Algae are major producers in the marine food chain

Give me a fish and I'll eat for a day; Teach me how to cultivate fish and eat what to eat, and I will eat it for the rest of my life.

Every organism in the marine food chain needs organic carbon to survive, and macroalgae and microalgae play an important role as autotrophs – harnessing energy from the sun through photosynthesis, which then serves as a food source for other organisms.

The decline in deep-sea fish stocks threatens the global supply of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid omega-3 acid, which are currently the main source of these essential fatty acids. Omega-3 acids and palm oil omega-7 acids have positive health benefits because they are powerful natural anti-inflammatory agents. Marine animals obtain these by eating algae and accumulating them in fat.

Similarly, humans can get them from fish or algal oil. Algae oil is vegetarian and does not contain heavy metals and dioxins that accumulate in the fish, which must be removed from the algae oil during processing. The production of omega-3-rich algal oil on seaweed farms will reduce the demand for fish oil as ocean warming and overfishing threaten the supply of fish oil.

Algae-based protein productivity greatly exceeds that of livestock and conventional crops

Agriculture based on marine macroalgae and microalgae is a promising new avenue for the sustainable production of plant-based "meat" and healthy "superfoods" in the future.

Protein yield per hectare (kilograms per hectare per year).

Source: M de Vries, M, CE van Middelaar, and IJM de Boer, "Comparing Environmental Impact of Beef Production Systems: A Life Cycle Assessment Review", Animal Science, Vol. 178, No. 1-3. , 2015.

Image source: Eco-Fly Ventures

The average protein yield for microalgae farming is 24 tonnes per year, compared to 720 kg per year for soybeans. Due to land scarcity and increased incidence of drought, the global protein shortfall cannot be solved by increasing crop yields. Microalgae farming offers an effective way to produce alternative protein powders with a high yield of 70% complete protein, suitable for use as a food ingredient.

Australia's response to the growing push for carbon-neutral proteins has been to recognise that the ocean could provide a solution for continents that are expected to become hotter and drier in the coming decades.