New company relaunches 'vital' seaweed operation in Bluff

"The Ocean Beach facility represents one of the biggest investments in seaweed aquaculture in this country to date, and it’s vital that it continues to lead the way in this exciting new industry.”

Executive Director of Asparagopsis Technologies Nigel Little.

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A new company has taken on the cultivation of seaweed in Bluff after CH4 Global decided to walk away from its operations to focus on its Australian operations.

Asparagopsis Technologies Limited (ASTEC) has been established to cultivate and supply research-grade Asparagopsis armata for animal methane mitigation studies.

Following CH4 Global’s decision to focus on its Australian operations, former leaders from the business partnered with Ocean Beach Aquaculture Park to retain the specialised infrastructure and cultivation expertise developed in Bluff. The new company will supply high-quality asparagopsis biomass to research institutions undertaking controlled and commercial-scale methane reduction trials internationally.

Interest in Asparagopsis continues to grow as research demonstrates its potential to significantly reduce methane emissions in ruminants.

However, access to consistent, research-grade material has remained a constraint for many institutions, with much of the global supply directed into proprietary commercial programmes.

ASTEC has been established to address this gap by providing researchers with reliable access to high-quality cultivated biomass for independent trials across diverse production systems, cattle breeds and feeding regimes.

The Ocean Beach Aquaculture Park is among the world’s largest land-based Asparagopsis cultivation facilities, with existing production capacity of approximately 20,000 daily doses per month and significant scope for future expansion as international research demand grows.

The facility leverages naturally cold Southern Ocean water and purpose-built bioreactor infrastructure, drawing on cultivation expertise developed over several years.

FutureFeed holds and licenses global IP for the use of Asparagopsis seaweed as a livestock feed ingredient, shown to lower ruminant methane emissions by 80% or more.

FutureFeed CEO Alex Baker said methane from cattle and sheep dominates New Zealand’s carbon footprint.

“The rising sustainability expectations and competition in global export markets mean this has to change.

“Accelerating seaweed supply is critical to bring about change, and we are excited to see Asparagopsis Technologies’ actions towards that goal.”

Asparagopsis Technologies director and Ocean Beach Aquaculture Park Managing Director Blair Wolfgram said over the past five years he has seen “this incredible seaweed, asparagopsis” cultivated at scale at Ocean Beach and stated it could solve a massive problem for farmers in New Zealand and overseas.

“Seaweed is one of the biggest growth opportunities for the New Zealand aquaculture industry, and asparagopsis is right in the sweet spot for us with a growing global demand combined with the scalable land-based solution.”

Aotearoa New Zealand Seaweed Association chair and Advisor to Asparagopsis Technologies, Dr Michael Lakeman, said the closure of the Asparagopsis in January was looking like a lost opportunity for New Zealand, given a disproportionate amount of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock.

“So, I am delighted that it’s back in business. The Ocean Beach facility represents one of the biggest investments in seaweed aquaculture in this country to date, and it’s vital that it continues to lead the way in this exciting new industry.”