GreenWave

Mission

Incorporated as a nonprofit in 2014, GreenWave’s mission is to train and support regenerative ocean farmers in the era of climate change. GreenWave works to replicate the regenerative ocean farming model in coastal communities throughout North America to create a blue economy—built and led by ocean farmers—that ensures we all make a living on a living planet. We believe that by working in partnership with the ocean, we can mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure that coastal communities have the tools and resources they need to be resilient in the face of climate-driven environmental, social, and economic systems shifts.

Needs Statement

Approximately 40% of the U.S. population lives in coastal communities, which are struggling to survive in the face of warming waters, collapsing fisheries, and declining economic activity caused by climate change. The nation’s fishing sector, which contributes more than $200 billion in economic activity each year and supports 1.6 million jobs, faces climate change-driven declines in productivity, revenue, and jobs. Coastal Indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable, facing land loss due to rising seas and the decline of marine species like herring and salmon that have historically served as a critical source of income and food security, as well as an important part of their cultural heritages. At the same time, climate change is exposing vulnerabilities in the nation’s land-based agriculture, which accounts for 10.5% of greenhouse gas emissions and relies heavily on disappearing fresh water supplies, fossil fuel-based inputs, and increasingly limited, expensive, and degraded land. While so much of the climate change discussion around the ocean has focused on its role as a victim (vanishing marine species and habitats, acidification, and pollution) or a threat (rising seas threatening lives and livelihoods), little attention and even fewer resources have been focused on the ocean’s tremendous potential to address these issues. Every year, our oceans absorb 90% of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gas emissions and 30% of the world's atmospheric carbon dioxide. Tapping into and supporting these natural processes can help significantly leverage our oceans’ capacity to mitigate accelerating emissions. Regenerative ocean farming is a replicable, accessible, and sustainable means of capturing this potential, offering a powerful solution to the climate crisis and the opportunity to address rising social and economic inequalities facing diverse coastal communities. The regenerative ocean farming model is a polyculture farming system that grows a mix of seaweeds and shellfish that require zero inputs—making it the most sustainable form of food production on the planet—while absorbing carbon and nitrogen from the water column and rebuilding reef ecosystems. The model can be deployed to restore ocean ecosystems, capture blue carbon, and grow seaweed and shellfish for commercial markets including food, fertilizer, animal feed, plastic alternatives, and more. These farms sit vertically below the surface, producing high yields with a small footprint. The model is replicable because startup costs are fairly low: anyone with access to 20 acres, a boat, and $20–50K can start their own farm. Using a conservative crop production estimate based on farms in GreenWave’s network, on an annual basis an average farm can produce 25,000 lbs of kelp and 200,000 lbs of shellfish, with the capacity to net more than $100,000. Annually, an average farm can remove 625 lbs of carbon and filter 50 lbs of nitrogen, equal to the amount of carbon emitted every 725 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger car. The impact of seaweed farming alone can be massive. According to the World Bank, farming seaweed in less than 5% of U.S. waters (0.1% of the world’s oceans) annually could absorb 10 million tons of nitrogen and 135 million tons of carbon, support 50 million jobs in direct on-farm employment alone, and produce the protein equivalent of three trillion cheeseburgers. Regenerative ocean farming also drives ecosystem restoration, providing structured habitats and food resources that increase species abundance and diversity across the marine food chain by an average of 25% compared to non-farming sites. In addition, seaweed cultivation offers multiple downstream benefits which are driving interest in diverse markets including consumer foods, agriculture (fertilizer, animal feed), and plastic alternatives: Seaweed converted into fertilizer and compost creates a virtuous nutrient loop, in which carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients taken up by kelp are then brought to land to enrich the soil, increase yields, and reduce the need for fossil-fuel based fertilizers. Emissions from the world’s nearly 1.5 billion cattle are a major source of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Supplementing livestock feed with a small amount of red seaweed species can reduce methane output by nearly 60% in cattle and up to 80% in sheep. Anecdotal evidence from early stage studies in New England points to similar potential benefits from sugar kelp. Eco-entrepreneurs are turning seaweed waste into sustainable alternatives to straws, paper, and packaging to address the 8 million metric tons of plastic thrown into the ocean each year. Without a significant supply of sustainably cultivated seaweeds, however, these markets will rely on wild harvest, which will deplete, rather than restore the oceans. While regenerative ocean farming offers tremendous potential, awareness and adoption of the model is still relatively small. As a leader in the regenerative ocean farming field, GreenWave is seeking support to rapidly scale adoption in North America over the next ten years.

Impact Statement

GreenWave has cultivated a thriving network of active farms, working hatcheries, processing hubs, and market opportunities. GreenWave also launched one of the largest commercial kelp hatcheries in the United States. In addition to producing high-quality kelp seed to ocean farmers in the region, we collaborate with institutional partners on research and innovations to improve kelp seed production, increase crop yields, and decrease stress on native kelp beds. GreenWave expanded its geographical reach from training farmers in southern New England to supporting initiatives in New England, Alaska, California, New York, the Pacific Northwest, and British Columbia, as well as New Zealand, providing training and technical assistance to more than 7,800 farmers, hatchery technicians, and entrepreneurs. GreenWave significantly scaled delivery of training and networking resources through the spring 2022 launch of the Regenerative Ocean Farming Hub, an online platform that includes curriculum, tools, and networking opportunities to support emerging and experienced farmers from seed to sale. With more than 6,800 users registered to date, more than half are actively using the curriculum and tools. And, with more than 2,200 posts on a wide range of topics, the Community has become a lively platform for stakeholders across the industry and at all experience levels to post questions, learn, and create regional connections. Additionally, GreenWave scaled kelp seed hatchery capacity in the U.S. and Canada through training and technical assistance. One of the foundational roadblocks to scaling the industry is the lack of regional kelp seed supply. GreenWave was a first mover in the field, adapting hatchery technologies from resource-intensive academic settings to launch the first affordable, commercial-scale hatchery in the U.S. in 2016. In 2022, GreenWave implemented next generation infrastructure designs and methodologies that offer critical advantages that will drive down costs and create energy and management efficiencies that make it possible for ocean farmers and under-resourced communities to expand regional kelp seed supplies. In addition, through a partnership with Hortimare, a European-based global leader in seed production, GreenWave piloted new gametophyte culturing technologies that will support greater climate resiliency of farmers and the regenerative ocean farming industry and preserve community sovereignty and stewardship over native seed. GreenWave finalized the build out of a shipping container-based modular hatchery at our New Haven headquarters in summer 2022. GreenWave is leveraging the prototype to create an affordable, standardized, mobile-ready operating model that will support the growth of kelp seed production capacity, which has been a limiting factor for the scaling of the North American regenerative ocean farming industry. This model will reduce costs of hatchery buildout and operations and facilitate industry learning and advancement. Because it’s specifically designed to fit in a standard shipping container, this mobile model can better serve remote communities. We launched operations with the new system in fall 2022 and completed a very successful seeding season. In addition to more than doubling our production capacity to 12 miles of kelp seed in a 20-foot shipping container, the new hatchery design requires less labor to maintain and has made it possible to easily address and mitigate contamination issues. GreenWave’s nursery now has the potential to produce up to 76,800 ft. of seedstring at once, exceeding our goal of reaching 60,000-70,000 ft. production capacity annually. For the 2023 seeding season, we grew 48,000 ft. of seedstring, with a 100% yield. Additionally, GreenWave supplied seed spools to 21 farms in Southern New England this year, surpassing our annual target of 15–20 farms. Recognition for GreenWave’s work includes the Buckminster Fuller Prize and the Curt Bergfors Food Planet Prize. The organization has been covered in 60 Minutes, CNN, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, and elsewhere.

CEO statement

Board Chair Statement

Areas Served Narrative

Since its inception in 2014, the New Haven-based GreenWave has cultivated a thriving network of active farms, working hatcheries, processing hubs, and market opportunities in southern New England. GreenWave also launched one of the largest commercial kelp hatcheries in the United States. In addition to providing high-quality kelp seed at no cost to new ocean farmers in the region, we collaborate with institutional partners, including UCONN and WHOI, on research and innovations to improve kelp seed production, increase crop yields, and decrease stress on native kelp beds. While GreenWave continues to serve our local New Haven community and southern New England farmers, the organization has expanded programming in multiple regions including Alaska, California, New York, and the Pacific Northwest, with a focus on fishermen, Indigenous groups, and other under-resourced coastal communities directly affected by climate change.

CEO statement (optional)