Seaweed and bivalve aquaculture hold immense promise for restoring ocean health, mitigating climate change, and strengthening coastal economies. Market forecasts point to double-digit growth over the next decades. Yet, despite increasing investment and political support, these industries face financial, technological, and regulatory barriers and climate risks that hinder their sustainable growth in the EU.
Commissioned by the European Investment Bank (EIB), this report—developed with the Global Seaweed Coalition (GSC)—explores how debt financing can accelerate the development of these sectors in Europe. This report was publicly launched at BlueInvest Day on March 6th 2025.
The report presents key market trends, analyses value chains and reviews current European seaweed and bivalve ecosystems and momentum.
It also highlights 10 key debt financing opportunities for seaweed and bivalve industries, ensuring that investment drives sustainability, competitiveness, and resilience. These opportunities include for instance financing seaweed infrastructure and biorefineries, modernisation of bivalve farming infrastructure, mechanization, Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture, and climate adaptation.
Finally, the report proposes four deployment strategies for EIB financing, leveraging for instance partnerships with commercial banks for intermediated lending and blended finance models.
With a strongly established bivalve industry, a fast-growing network of seaweed entrepreneurs and a strong policy push at European Commission level and in a growing number of EU Member States, the time to scale sustainable seaweed and bivalve production is now.
Read the full report to discover how innovative debt financing can unlock the future of these regenerative ocean-based industries.
