On the Isle of Skye in Scotland, farmers are transforming algae from a mere food item on some menus into a treasure that supports both climate sustainability and business opportunities.
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00:00The answer to the climate crisis, it could lie beneath the surface of the sea.
00:05Algae are a treasure.
00:10Chef Carlo Monroe is convinced of this.
00:12Every few days he collects them right on his doorstep, on the small Scottish island of Skye.
00:18There are many different species here, a renewable alternative to fish and meat.
00:23Maybe twice or two times a week actually we come out, yeah.
00:26See this one here, which is, I would say, up there with the best, it's sea spaghetti.
00:31As you can tell why it's called sea spaghetti, because it just looks exactly like this.
00:35Again, it's quite a subtle flavour, but you can use it just as you would spaghetti.
00:41Ian Matheson wants to grow algae.
00:44He's actually a fisherman, but he's also been a part-time algae farmer for two years.
00:49It's more sustainable, he says.
00:51The first thing he wants to do is find out which types of algae can best be cultivated here.
00:56They're suitable, for example, as fertiliser, as animal feed and as an alternative to plastic.
01:04To begin with, we'll be using this for bio-stimulants.
01:07But we need to send off for testing first, see what kind of nutrients and minerals it has.
01:13And then, once we've discovered that, we'll know what we want to do with it after that.
01:19In addition to tourism, salmon farming has been one of the most important sources of income on the Isle of Skye.
01:25It provides jobs, but aquaculture also causes environmental damage.
01:31In recent years, several algae farmers have settled in this area.
01:35Some are already harvesting.
01:37The algae of Skye can be over two metres long.
01:41They don't need any fertiliser and grow on their own.
01:45Until now, processing has been the bottleneck.
01:48A gap in the market that Alison Baker is trying to fill.
01:54Her start-up EcoCascade is funded by the Scottish government.
01:58They have just invested in a new chopping machine.
02:02We want to be able to process a lot of seaweed that can go onto a commercial market.
02:10Because that will promote the growth of the industry.
02:13Because farmers will be able to grow to order.
02:16They'll be able to increase the size of their farms and grow more seaweed.
02:20Algae instead of salmon farming is still a thing of the future.
02:24But making the algae visible and using this treasure of the sea,
02:28people on the Isle of Skye are working on it.