Valorization of algae: cooperation between the Pays de Morlaix and the Wando district

A scientific cooperation protocol on the enhancement of algae was signed on 1 October 2019 between the Pays de Morlaix and the Wando district (South Korea).

From October 1 to 3, the Pays de Morlaix received a Korean delegation from the District of Wando in South Korea as part of the signing of a Memorendum of Understanding (MoU) between the 2 territories. It will be chaired by the District Governor, Shin Woo Cheol. This initiative is led, on a scientific level, by Philippe Potin, a researcher at the Roscoff Biological Station.

 

Background and prospects of the cooperation project

Currently focused on the development of bio-resources from the Wando archipelago (fishing and aquaculture of macroalgae and abalone) for human consumption, the District of Wando (South Jeolla Province, South Korea) wants to take inspiration from the past and current developments in the Roscoff region (Roc'h Kroum Thalassotherapy Institute, Centre Hélio Marin de Perharidy, Roscoff Biological Station, Blue Valley project) to create a new dynamic, deployed in a "Blue Zone". These developments are aimed in particular at the emergence of an industrial and tourist sector based on marine biotechnologies and the enhancement of seafood products in nutrition-health and in the field of preventive medicine and well-being (thalassotherapy, climate therapy, etc.).

A delegation from the government services of this district has already visited Roscoff in November 2018 and was received at the Biological Station by its now former director Bernard Kloareg and Philippe Potin.

This memorandum of understanding is now fully in line with the Blue Valley project, developed by the Pays de Morlaix, aimed at strengthening the role of scientific and technological activity related to biosciences and marine biotechnologies in local economic development. The Pays de Morlaix, which already has about fifteen companies (representing about a hundred jobs) in the field of the blue bio-economy, aims to develop this fabric, based in particular on the activity of the Roscoff Biological Station, but also on a policy of attractiveness and strengthened cooperation in this field.

This cooperation project is more broadly in line with the ambitions of the World Campus of the Sea, which brings together the entire marine science and technology community of Western Brittany and which has an international outreach ambition.

Among the scientific partnerships planned, exchanges between the Biological Station, the Morlaix Country, and the research centres of Wando and other Korean universities could be financed by the submission of a EUREKA project (under study).

The Korean delegation was able to visit the Roscoff Biological Station and the Lessonia company.  After presenting her Wando Blue Zone initiative, she was able to attend the Blue Valley and Blue Valley Park initiatives.

 

The Wando district in a few figures

• 256 islands, 52,000 inhabitants;
• Certified organic aquaculture: algae (all species), abalone and sea bream;
• Other development sectors: sea and climate therapies (i.e. very good air quality and few seasonal variations), tourism
• 600,000 t of algae production, representing more than half of South Korea's production, a significant part of which is used for abalone cultivation
• 40 companies in algae production, 120 in processing
• A bio-industry research centre will open in 2021: the Blue Zone, combining research and companies
• The Wando International Seaweeds exhibition is a conference that takes place every 3 years and the next edition will take place in 2021; it attracted nearly 700,000 visitors in 2018.