Penmon Seaweed Hatchery
PEBL facilities in March 2021.
In the winter of 2020 we established Wales' first purpose-built seaweed hatchery facility at Dinmor Quarry, Penmon Point, Anglesey. This facility is entirely powered by an off-grid solar-battery installation. Natural seawater is pumped directly from the foreshore into a seawater purification system. This allows us to remove unwanted contaminants whilst retaining the natural micronutrients and essential minerals for the early life stages of seaweed growth.
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The seawater is then distributed into a series of WRAS-approved cultivation tanks within the facility where the temperature, light, nutrient levels and aeration of the seawater are precisely controlled. Our seaweed hatchery produces high-quality seaweed seedlings which we inoculate onto aquaculture-grade cultivation twine and also offer for direct seeding using binder. With a year-round capacity for inoculating 24,000m of twine every 6 weeks. The design and installation of this facility was supported through the Innovate UK Sustainable Innovation Fund.
50m of Sugar Kelp seedlings on twine as delivered to a seaweed farm
Cultivation tanks in the seaweed hatchery
Fertile Sugar Kelp segments prior to seedling induction
Kelp seeding spools in cultivation tanks in week 1
Kelp spools after 4 weeks of cultivation
Seedlings on Twine
PEBL currently offers the following seedlings on twine:
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Sugar Kelp (Saccarina Latissima)
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Winged Kelp (Alaria Esculenta)
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Oarweed (Laminaria Digitata)
Seedlings on twine come in spools of 50m length wrapped around PVC pipe 75mm in diameter and approximately 340mm lengths. Spools can either be collected directly from our hatchery in Anglesey or we can ship spools by overnight courier in a temperature controlled container. Seedlings on twine if maintained at the correct temperature can be kelp for up to 5 days.
For orders above 1km twine we offer 1 day of free support for out planting seeded twine onto your farm.
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For more information about costs, technical guidance and availability please contact us using the details below.
Email: beth@pebl-cic.co.uk
Tel: 0790572766
Direct seeding using binder
Twine seeding has been the standard in Europe for a decade, but direct seeding is now emerging as a cost-effective and faster alternative. This method applies seedlings directly onto the rope, securing them with a biocompatible binder, eliminating the need for extended hatchery incubation. This approach also extends the deployment window, as the seedlings can be stored for up to 10 days before use.
PEBL has been trialling direct seeding since 2021 with promising results when used in the appropriate context and currently offers the following seedlings for direct seeding:
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Sugar Kelp (Saccarina Latissima)
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Winged Kelp (Alaria Esculenta)
Direct seeding technology is currently under development, and as such, we provide a supervised service with access to the latest direct seeding equipment and protocols. This service incurs a one-off fee to cover the time and travel costs of one of our staff to visit your site to aid with applying the seedlings and binder.
For orders above 2km direct seed we offer free support.
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For more information about costs, technical guidance and availability please contact us using the details below.
Email: beth@pebl-cic.co.uk
Tel: 0790572766