Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assess the impacts, whether positive or negative, on biodiversity and nature recovery of the establishment of seaweed farms in coastal waters.

The Marine Management Organisation assesses all licence applications for seaweed farms in its jurisdiction, including their potential impacts on the environment and other sea uses, on a case-by-case basis. More generally, research commissioned as part of Defra’s £37m marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (mNCEA) programme includes considering the services provided by farmed and wild kelp and impacts on the environment and people.