Oral Reply to Parliamentary Question on Seaweed Production by Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment

Oral Reply to Parliamentary Question on Seaweed Production by Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what is the Government doing to explore the feasibility of seaweed production in Singapore’s waters; (b) whether the Ministry includes the local production of seaweed as part of its 30 by 30 agri-food strategy; and (c) whether the Ministry includes seaweed farms as part of its sea space lease provision.

Answer:

1 Given our land and resource constraints, including sea space, our “30 by 30” goal focuses on food items that have large consumer demand and can be grown in a productive and resource-efficient way, such as eggs, vegetables and fish. We currently do not have plans to allocate sea space for seaweed production. Nevertheless, we are prepared to consider proposals from the industry on new food types, including seaweed, that will help us contribute to our “30 by 30” goal.