Souto Ocean Culture
About us
Souto Ocean Culture is dedicated to the development of commercial seaweed farming in southern Sweden. Our focus is on the sustainable cultivation of locally occurring species in the Baltic Sea. We are based in Skåne and currently operating a pilot cultivation site in Österlen.
Souto Ocean Culture was founded in 2022 with the aim of developing commercial seaweed farming in Skåne. We are investing in the development of sustainable cultivation that benefits society by harnessing the rich resources of the Baltic Sea. Our work focuses on propagation and seeding, cultivation, and processing of locally occurring species. At present, we are primarily working with branched string lettuce (Ulva prolifera) and gutweed (Ulva intestinalis), and are also experimenting with Chorda filum and broad leaf sea lettuce (Ulva sp.).
We are in the process of adapting the so-called Kochi method for land-based cultivation to the species and conditions found in the southern Baltic Sea. This method, also known as the "germling cluster" method, enables year-round, high-density cultivation, making it particularly suitable for commercial applications.
In addition to land-based farming, Souto Ocean Culture also supports the development of sea-based cultivation methods. We hold a permit for a pilot sea farm off Vik in Österlen. We are currently conducting trials with seeded lines to investigate growth rates in collaboration with, among others, Kivik tång in Kivik and Tång Tång in Malmö.
We operate our own propagation and seeding facility in Simrishamn in collaboration with Skillinge Fisk-Impex and Simrishamn Municipality through the Marint Centrum. In autumn 2023, we began a collaboration with the Laboratory of Seaweed at Kochi University in Japan, focusing on the Kochi method, as well as sea-based cultivation and processing of green algae from the genera Ulva and Monostroma. Souto Ocean Culture also collaborates with Under Ytan in Åland and Nemo Seafarms in Finland on seaweed cultivation in the Baltic Sea for the purposes of commercial production and restoration. We are also part of the ForSea project, led by the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University, aimed at extracting high-value seaweed-based products for use in food and nutraceuticals.
Since winter 2023, we have been leading the Tångkusten project, which aims to lay the foundation for a seaweed industry in Skåne.
Tångkusten
The seaweed coast
Tångkusten, Swedish for ’The seaweed coast’, is a two-year project aiming at laying the groundwork for commercial seaweed cultivation at sea in Skåne. The project is being implemented by a consortium of local and international partners and is co-financed by Region Skåne.
The name of the project, ‘The seaweed coast’ is our vision of an economically, socially and environmentally responsible seaweed industry in the Baltic Sea, where companies, academia, public authorities and the general public cooperate toward innovation, societal gains and resource efficiency. We envision a seaweed industry that is rooted locally and competitive internationally, and which exploits local species for the development of different products for consumers and industry.
The project encompasses the development of nursery and cultivation methods, an investigation into business models for future seaweed companies, the identification of potential uses in the food and blue biotech sectors, and the development of consumer markets for seaweed products.
Tångkusten started in early 2023 after receiving a grant from Region Skåne’s support to circular and sustainable food systems. Tångkusten, ‘The seaweed coast’, is driven by Souto Ocean Culture and Marint Centrum in Simrishamn. The other project partners are Kivik tång, Innovationscenter för landsbygden, Nemo Seafarms, Under ytan and Lund University.
On April 8th, 2024, Tångkusten held an event for potential commercial customers and partners whose work relates to seaweed. For the general public, Simrishamn´s municipality organises Sillens dag ('Herring day') in Simrishamn around mid-September, which in recent years has included a number of seaweed-related activities. Stay tuned on Simrishamn´s municipality website for details.
Would you like to know more about the project? Are you interested in doing a student dissertation with us? If so, please contact us using the form below.
