California officials allow largest US kelp farm plan to advance

• September 14, 2026

California coastal officials have voted to let plans for the United States’ largest kelp farm move forward. The farm would be built about 10 kilometres off the Southern California coast. California has long been farm country, and its oceans could soon be as well.

Ocean Rainforest, a company based in the Faroe Islands, wants to grow giant kelp on about 7.8 square kilometres of federal waters. At full capacity, the company could harvest 6,000 tonnes of kelp. The kelp would be processed in Ventura, about 97 kilometres northwest of Los Angeles, and used in products for soil and plant health on California avocado farms and strawberry fields.

Douglas Bush, Ocean Rainforest’s director of California operations, said: “Let’s start in our backyard. Let’s grow the seaweed here, let’s process here in California, let’s use it in California farms.”

The plan comes as the Trump administration seeks to promote commercial aquaculture. NOAA last year designated 13 areas covering 85 square kilometres for aquaculture development off California and Texas. The market for seaweed has also grown, with uses ranging from restaurant dishes to pet food. A World Bank report in 2023 estimated seaweed markets could grow by another $11.8 billion by 2030.

Some environmental groups backed the project. They said seaweed can help absorb carbon dioxide from warming ocean waters and restore habitat. Others raised concerns about whale entanglement and the impact of hundreds of boat trips a year. Ocean Rainforest said no whales became tangled in taut lines during a two year demonstration project.

Geoff Shester of Oceana said: “This is our blue Serengeti. This is a very wild place. It’s like you might as well put a bunch of industrial data centres in Yosemite National Park.”

Cassidy Teufel, deputy director at the coastal commission, said seaweed farms use taut, rigid lines, not the loose fishing lines that are a leading cause of whale entanglements. The farm will be further offshore where there is a lower density of marine mammals, she said. Sportfishing will be permitted in the area. Some commercial fishing will be displaced, and Ocean Rainforest and fishermen said they are working on an industry support fund.

The California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to allow the project with conditions, including a phased approach. Ocean Rainforest will first build in a smaller area. It will face periodic reviews by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the commission’s director before expanding. The company said it now has the major approvals needed. Construction could begin in 2027.

Ventura officials welcomed the project for new industry and jobs. Ted Travers of the avocado farm Simpatica said he was eager to see kelp based products for agriculture developed on the West Coast.

Original source: This article is based on reporting by Amy Taxin of the Associated Press. It was published by ABC News on 10 September 2026 under the headline “California officials allow plans for the country’s biggest kelp farm to move forward.”