But there is a critical ingredient missing from many conversations about scaling the sector: people. Too often, discussions focus on biology, engineering, and economics while overlooking the communities who live and work along our coasts. If seaweed farming is to become a genuine Blue Economy success story, coastal communities cannot be treated as an afterthought.
Across Blue Economy sectors, we have seen what happens when projects are presented as unquestionably “green (blue)” without asking the people who live alongside them what they think. Whether it is renewable energy, protected areas, or aquaculture, good intentions alone do not guarantee public and community support. Communities want to know how developments will affect their livelihoods, coastscapes, and sense of place. Increasingly, they expect to be partners in shaping those decisions, not simply consulted once plans are underway.
Seaweed farming is no different.
This is an industry with potential to deliver exactly the kind of just transition environmental activists have long called for. It could become an anchor of resilient coastal communities rather than another example of wealth flowing away from the areas that host the operations.
Doing the Social License Work
I led the publication of a new policy brief arguing that the industry’s future depends on earning what is known as a ‘social license’ to operate: the trust and acceptance of the people whose lives intersect with new developments. Unlike planning permission, social license cannot be approved by a regulator or secured with a box-ticking consultation exercise. It is earned through transparency, genuine dialogue and a willingness to change course when communities raise concerns.
This is not simply a communications issue; it is a social, environmental, and business imperative. Poor engagement breeds opposition, delays projects, and creates headlines that can tarnish an entire industry. In a sector still finding its feet, a handful of poorly handled developments could define public perceptions for decades.
Seaweed Farming with and for Coastal Communities
Around the world, community-led and locally embedded seaweed businesses are already demonstrating that collaboration works. By engaging rights holders, fishers, tourism operators, residents, and local organizations from the outset, these enterprises are showing that seaweed farming can strengthen, not displace or disrupt, local communities.
That means putting communities at the center of site selection, valuing local knowledge alongside scientific evidence, supporting community-inclusive business models, and recognizing that trust is not a barrier to growth; it is the foundation of it. If the seaweed sector wants to become a flagship of the Blue Economy, it must reject the outdated notion that sustainability is only about carbon, waste, and biodiversity. A truly sustainable Blue Economy is also built on empathy, fairness, participation, and shared benefits.
