Fiora Mara

Seaweed Plantlets on Grow Lines from Sorus – Success! At Fiora Mara, every milestone in our seaweed hatchery development brings us closer to our vision of large-scale ocean-based carbon removal. One of our most recent critical achievement has been successfully converting live seaweed into seeded grow lines within our controlled environment grow tanks. This achievement is essential to our long-term success, as it ensures we can reliably produce the plantlets needed for our floating farms—without relying on external suppliers. Originally published here - https://lnkd.in/ekHM-d4Z Today we celebrate the success of our?live seaweed experiment, where we took fresh seaweed, carefully extracted the sorus tissue (seaweed spores), and attached them to grow lines in our hatchery’s grow tanks. Over time, we nursed these seeded lines until they developed into healthy plantlets, ready for oceanic deployment. This process not only demonstrates our ability to cultivate seaweed independently but also reinforces our capability to scale our solution efficiently. Our unconventional,?Breaking Bad-style RV biological clean-room?has proven to be a game-changer. Not only has it allowed us to convert live seaweed into viable plantlets on grow lines, but it has also demonstrated success in transitioning gametophytes to plantlets. These results validate our ability to create a sterile, controlled environment for seaweed cultivation—an essential step in scaling our operations while maintaining quality and consistency. This success marks a pivotal moment for Fiora Mara. By proving that our methods work, we’re laying the foundation for a scalable and sustainable system that will drive our mission forward. We’re excited about what’s next—refining our processes, expanding our capabilities, and taking the next steps toward deploying our biodegradable seaweed farms in the open ocean. Stay tuned as we continue to push the boundaries of innovation in ocean-based carbon sequestration.

Seaweed Plantlets on Grow Lines from Sorus – Success! At Fiora Mara, every milestone in our seaweed hatchery development brings us closer to our vision of large-scale ocean-based carbon removal. One of our most recent critical achievement has been successfully converting live seaweed into seeded grow lines within our controlled environment grow tanks. This achievement is essential to our long-term success, as it ensures we can reliably produce the plantlets needed for our floating farms—without relying on external suppliers. Originally published here - https://lnkd.in/ekHM-d4Z Today we celebrate the success of our?live seaweed experiment, where we took fresh seaweed, carefully extracted the sorus tissue (seaweed spores), and attached them to grow lines in our hatchery’s grow tanks. Over time, we nursed these seeded lines until they developed into healthy plantlets, ready for oceanic deployment. This process not only demonstrates our ability to cultivate seaweed independently but also reinforces our capability to scale our solution efficiently. Our unconventional,?Breaking Bad-style RV biological clean-room?has proven to be a game-changer. Not only has it allowed us to convert live seaweed into viable plantlets on grow lines, but it has also demonstrated success in transitioning gametophytes to plantlets. These results validate our ability to create a sterile, controlled environment for seaweed cultivation—an essential step in scaling our operations while maintaining quality and consistency. This success marks a pivotal moment for Fiora Mara. By proving that our methods work, we’re laying the foundation for a scalable and sustainable system that will drive our mission forward. We’re excited about what’s next—refining our processes, expanding our capabilities, and taking the next steps toward deploying our biodegradable seaweed farms in the open ocean. Stay tuned as we continue to push the boundaries of innovation in ocean-based carbon sequestration.

Our CEO, Adam E Ornstein has been featured on "Climate Innovator" speaking about Fiora Mara for "600 seconds" Read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/e-UjpAKJ

2 weeks ago, I wrote a roundup of seaweed companies that started in the past 2 years. As I noted there, innovation is still alive in seaweeds but it became less Europe/US/Australia-centric and more global in scope. If you missed it, here they are (descriptions and website links didn't fit here, see the original post for that - https://lnkd.in/gnhvawa5): Livestock methane reduction Kaginowa?(Japan) Sunshiki?(Japan) Kajima?(Japan) SEAWEED & FEED?(South Korea) Bahari Labs?(South Africa) Pakistan Seaweed (Pakistan) Lava Seaweed?(Iceland) Biorefineries Coral Bioworks?(Chile) Biobentos SpA?(Chile) Algaetech Biorrefinaria (Brazil) Birufinery?(Indonesia) SEAnnovation AS?(Norway) Sargassum BioPlaster Research?(Mexico) The Seas We Love?(Mexico) SOS Biotech?(Dominican Republic) Sargassum Eco Lumber?(USA) MacroCarbon?(Spain) US/EU food companies Atlas?(USA) UNCRACKED?(USA) Marine Biologics?(USA / France) OCEAN KISS??(France) Moreshrooms AS?(Norway) POSEIDONA?(Spain) ISAUKI foods?(Spain) Land-based cultivation Aquavertica?(Netherlands) MAGMA seaweed?(France) MariTide?(India) Halophilic Marine Agriculture?(USA / Vietnam) Rongbient Biotech?(Vietnam) Yunus Foundation?(Thailand) BlueGreenery?(Belgium) East Africa Coastal BioTech Ltd?(Tanzania) Sayari Ventures?(Kenya) Bahari Remedies Co. Ltd?(Tanzania) Hoan Blue?(Somalia) MAVUNOLAB?(Tanzania) Afro Nature Co. Limited?(Tanzania) New materials Supercarb?(USA)? Erlab (France) IZALGUE?(France) Seacork Studio?(Canada) Miha Biotech Inc.?(Canada) BIOLABMATE?(Canada) Restoration BLUABLE?(Japan) Por El Mar?(Argentina) Kelp Ark?(USA) OoNee Sea Urchin Ranch?(USA) SeaKITS Hub INC.?(Philippines) Kinanomics?(New Zealand) Sea Nest?(New Zealand) KelpHelpers?(New Zealand) Didn’t fit into any of the categories above… MacroBreed?(USA) CapiPro?(Norway) SeaDyes Limited?(UK) RUBISKO?(UK) SeaweedLink?(South Korea / Netherlands) Electricalgae?(Israel) Fiora Mara?(USA)

Excited to announce that Fiora Mara is Joining AirMiners Accelerator Program

Milestone Moment: Launching Our First Seaweed Farm Yesterday marked an exciting milestone for Fiora Mara: the launch of our very first seaweed farm, supported by the incredible team at the RETI Center. This achievement represents a crucial step forward in our mission to deliver innovative, nature-based climate solutions. It’s not just a technical success—it’s a testament to the dedication, preparation, and collaboration that brought us here. Originally published here: https://lnkd.in/ePesenXq Step by Step – How We Got Here Reaching this milestone has been a journey of challenges, learnings, and triumphs. 1. Building the Seaweed Hatchery We began by designing and building our seaweed hatchery, a critical facility for nurturing seaweed from its earliest stages to deployment readiness, even in the challenging environment of a shared warehouse. 2. Sourcing Gametophytes We obtained gametophytes from Bigelow Labs, renowned for their expertise in ocean science. These tiny organisms formed the foundation of our work. 3. Hatchery Nurturing At our hatchery, we processed the gametophytes, attaching them to grow lines and nurturing them in a grow tank. This required constant monitoring, nutrient balancing, and ocean water maintenance. 4. Transition to Deployment Once the organisms matured into plantlets on the grow lines, we prepared them for deployment, moving them to a specially designed capsule for safe transition to open water. 5. Farm Construction and Launch Using insights from material studies, we built our scalable, eco-friendly pilot farm. At the RETI Center, we launched it—culminating months of preparation and research. 6. Reflecting on the First Step This journey wasn’t smooth sailing. Each stage brought challenges that pushed us to refine our methods and practice relentlessly. Progress is about translating ideas into action, step by step. From lab work to ocean deployment, we learned that true innovation happens in the doing. What’s Next? This is just the beginning. With lessons from this pilot, we’re ready to scale up and refine our approach, building on experience to continue our mission for a healthier planet. The first step lays the foundation for what’s next, and we’re just getting started.

Our Gametophytes Technique for Growing Plantlets on Grow Lines is a Success We’re thrilled to share an exciting update from our hatchery experiments! Our trial to grow seaweed plantlets on grow lines originating from gametophytes has been a resounding success. These plantlets are thriving, marking a major milestone in validating our approach to seaweed cultivation. Originally Published Here: https://lnkd.in/egqy2vUZ This achievement is significant for two reasons: first, it confirms that our innovative hatchery design works effectively, even when operated in a challenging, active warehouse environment. Second, it demonstrates that our methods for cultivating gametophytes into plantlets on grow lines perform exactly as intended. With this success under our belts, we’re now preparing to take the next bold step. The seed string produced from this trial will soon be deployed on our uniquely designed seaweed farm, set to launch in the open ocean. Stay tuned as we continue pushing the boundaries of scalable, ocean-based carbon sequestration.

Collecting Sorus-Filled Seaweed for our Seaweed Hatchery At Fiora Mara, every step in our journey to sink seaweed and sequester carbon begins with collaboration and care. This week, we had the pleasure of meeting with Lizzie from Hart Lobster in West Sayville, Long Island. Lizzie’s expertise was invaluable as she helped us organize a batch of mature, sorus-filled seaweed—an essential resource for confirming our methods of growing plantlets on seed lines. Proving these methods is a critical milestone that brings us closer to the next stage of our business. The seaweed made its way to our hatchery, where it will be carefully processed. Our goal? To isolate and activate the sorus portion, encouraging it to attach to our seed lines and kick off the growth process in our nursery. Packed snugly in a cooler, it earned the VIP treatment while on it’s way to our hatchery. It was strapped into the front passenger seat and treated with the care or the millions of potential seaweed babies (sorus tissue!) that it contains. Now that the seaweed has arrived safely, we’re eager to begin processing it. We’re optimistic about a successful spore release, setting the stage for a thriving hatchery and another leap forward in our mission to combat climate change.

Growing Gametophytes & Verifying Our Hatchery At Fiora Mara, we are focused on validating our seaweed hatchery design. Our current efforts involve combining male and female gametophytes and nurturing them into seaweed plantlets on grow lines. This phase is crucial in confirming that our seaweed hatchery can operate in a challenging, industrial environment, not only facilitating the growth of these gametophytes into plantlets but also preventing biological contamination in this traditional dirty environment throughout the process. With the male and female gametophytes being combined and applied to the grow lines that are wrapped around PVC piping, we’ve entered the early stages of nurturing them to maturity. This initial test is focused on evaluating our hatchery processes and our methods for growing gametophytes into plantlets in our tanks. Our future tests will explore different methods, including working with seaweed spores. Conducted in a shared warehouse space, this experiment aims to demonstrate that our hatchery can maintain a clean, contamination-free environment while functioning under challenging conditions. Success in this phase will confirm that our hatchery design is capable of being constructed at any location, producing deployment-ready seedlings, adaptable to more rugged settings like an ocean bound barge. This testing is essential for achieving our long-term vision: creating a portable hatchery that can be deployed from barges during oceanic journeys. By using collecting seaweed and isolating gametophytes from the varied regions where we operate, we aim to seed our self-sinking, biodegradable seaweed farms directly in the ocean. Proving the effectiveness of our hatchery design ensures that our methods are scalable and capable of supporting barge-based operations, driving large-scale carbon removal globally. As we refine our hatchery and progress toward full-scale ocean deployment, we’re taking another exciting step closer to realizing our vision for the future – where seaweed plays a crucial role in capturing significant amounts of carbon while protecting the ocean.

Biodegradable Seaweed Farming Materials Test – Week 6 Six weeks ago, we embarked on an exciting experiment with our partners at?RETI Center?to test the durability and biodegradability of various rope materials when submerged in ocean water. We used a bamboo pole, another material we needed to test for durability, as the base and attached several types of ropes and twines, including: – Bamboo – Marijuana hemp rope – Manilla hemp rope – Jute rope – Bio-rope – Mushroom-based mesh – Two kinds of hemp twine [ The full article can be found here: https://lnkd.in/eDJ4N79p ] About?Fiora Mara At Fiora Mara, we are dedicated to developing innovative solutions for seaweed farming technology aimed at decarbonization. Our goal with this test is to make progress towards creating a 100% biodegradable seaweed farm that can be deployed in the open ocean and successfully grow seaweed to maturity. To achieve this, we continuously experiment with various materials to identify the most effective and sustainable options. Our current test at RETI Center in Brooklyn, New York, is a significant step toward realizing this vision. Week 2: Early Observations After the first two weeks, we observed that one of the hemp twines had broken, but all other materials remained securely attached to the bamboo pole. All of our ropes began to accumulate small amounts of algae and plants, making them a suitable home. This initial phase demonstrated the resilience of most materials under early exposure to ocean conditions. Week 4: Growing Biodiversity and Twine Degradation By the fourth week, one hemp twine had completely degraded and fallen off, while the other hemp twine was damaged but still holding on to the bamboo. The twines do not need to last forever, just long enough for our plantlets to grab onto the ropes. All of the ropes had accumulated various marine organisms, adding weight to the bamboo and creating a layer of algae over them. The ropes themselves remained quite strong; both in the knots used to attach them and when we pulled on them, there was no material loss. The mushroom mesh, however, had started to lose its structure, appearing more like a blob than a mesh, and its appearance was quite malleable. Interestingly, the bamboo itself hosted several plants, algae, and algae, yet remained afloat. Week 6: Continued Durability At the six-week mark, both hemp twines had fully fallen off. Despite the increasing weight from the marine life on the ropes, nearly all of them remained...... Continue Reading here: https://lnkd.in/eDJ4N79p