Galway-based Óir na Farraige has installed a submerged seaweed farm in Bantry Bay, using a new mooring system designed to increase production while reducing the visual impact of aquaculture.
Galway-based regenerative ocean farming company Óir na Farraige (ÓNF) has completed the installation of its first seaweed farm in Bantry Bay, Co Cork, marking what the company says is the first European deployment of new cultivation technology designed to significantly reduce seaweed production costs.
The installation uses a submerged growing system and next-generation mooring design, allowing the farm to sit below the surface for much of the year while increasing the amount of seaweed that can be cultivated within a relatively small area.
The farm is scheduled to be seeded in November, with its first harvest expected in May 2027. The company is targeting commercial production from 2028.
Five Times More Growing Capacity Per Hectare
According to ÓNF, the Bantry Bay installation incorporates more than 12,800 metres of farming and mooring material within a footprint of less than one hectare.
The design can accommodate up to five times more seeded rope per hectare than conventional seaweed farming systems, potentially increasing yields without requiring a corresponding expansion of the licensed farming area.
"For too long, seaweed has been a story about potential," said Gareth Murphy, co-founder and chief executive of Óir na Farraige.
"This is that potential, in the water. We set out to build something that could deliver at scale and still sit quietly within its landscape and that is exactly what we have now put in place in Bantry Bay."
Murphy said the new approach represented a significant development in cultivation density.
"It is a step-change in cultivation density and engineered to grow far more seaweed from far less sea."
Submerged Mooring System Designed for Atlantic Conditions
At the centre of the new installation is an interconnected mooring grid that allows the cultivation lines to be raised and lowered through the water column.
Unlike traditional systems using individually moored lines, the new arrangement is designed to move as a single structure in response to wave and current conditions.
The company says the technology has been engineered for exposed Atlantic waters, including the increasingly severe storms that can affect Ireland's western and south-western coasts.
By keeping much of the infrastructure beneath the surface, reducing the number of visible buoys and selecting colours that blend into the surrounding water, the design also aims to minimise the farm's impact on the coastal landscape.
"Ireland has some of the best growing conditions in the world for this crop," Murphy said.
"Proving a farm design that works with the environment rather than against it is a real step forward, not just for us, but for the sector."
EU Funding Supports Irish Blue Economy Expansion
The Bantry Bay project has received European Commission funding through EIT Food and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).
Co-founded by Gareth Murphy and Sam Roch-Perks, Óir na Farraige cultivates native seaweed at licensed sites off Ireland's west and south-west coasts.
Following a fundraising round earlier this year, the company is developing a commercial production model aimed at supplying Europe's growing bioeconomy, including agricultural crop nutrition, bio-based materials, food and functional ingredients.
The company plans to begin its next phase of expansion in 2027, ahead of commercial production in 2028.
The Bantry Bay installation provides an early demonstration of how new cultivation technology could support larger-scale Irish seaweed production while addressing concerns about the use of marine space, exposure to Atlantic weather and the visual impact of aquaculture developments.
Previous Afloat Coverage
The installation follows Óir na Farraige's announcement in April of an EU-backed €1.5 million project to develop seaweed farming technology, involving Norwegian technology partner Arctic Seaweed and research support from the University of Galway.
The company also coordinates the SEAGROW regenerative ocean farming project, launched in late 2025 with €1.43 million in eligible project costs and support from the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund.
