Advancing regenerative kelp practices for coastal communities present and future

Sarah Gutzmann is a PhD student in SFU’s School of Resource and Environmental Management and member of the Ocean Equity Lab working to promote regenerative kelp harvesting, farming and restoration throughout the province.

Seaweed industries, which include those for kelp, have grown significantly in recent years due to the demand of seaweed for use in a range of products such as cosmetics, food, fertilizers and more. Because they require no land or fertilizers, these industries are often also seen as environmentally low impact and beneficial to the livelihoods of coastal communities. However, Gutzmann explains that this growing popularity and demand can create conflict with coastal communities as industries continue to expand.

“These rapidly growing industries have the potential to perpetuate and/or exacerbate ocean injustices like ‘ocean grabbing’, which occurs when ocean-based actions, policies, or initiatives dispossess or further disadvantage marginalized peoples,” says Gutzmann. “There is a practical need to develop strategies and the knowledge of how to actively center equity in seaweed economies so that local and Indigenous communities can fully participate and lead in this industry.”

To address this need, Gutzmann is working to understand how to make kelp industries regenerative and more sustainable from a socio-economic perspective. She has also partnered with Ocean Regenerative Aquaculture to help steward human-kelp relationships throughout B.C., while centering reconciliation between societies, knowledges and with nature.

This means transforming current economic systems through regenerative economics and focusing on renewing human and ecological health, wellbeing and relationships rather than profit alone, better equipping our systems to face current social-ecological challenges. This transformation falls in line with the concept of the Blue Economy, which prioritizes the equitable use of ocean resources in addition to environmental sustainability – a key focus of the Ocean Equity Lab.

Before joining the Ocean Equity Lab as a PhD student, Gutzmann completed a master’s in resource management at SFU, where she worked alongside Kwakiutl Nation to promote resilient kelp harvesting and farming that was guided by their governing principles, community values and objectives.

“I love that my research is incredibly applied and takes a wholistic perspective,” she says. “I get to work directly with communities, industry, regulators, and other academics to help steward healthier oceans for us and future generations.”