Kelp and seaweed farming is expanding as a sustainable food and feed source. As plants or simple organisms, seaweeds raise limited welfare concerns but their ecosystem role is significant.
Seaweed farming raises minimal direct welfare concerns given the absence of nervous systems in these organisms. However, the welfare context extends to the species that depend on kelp and seaweed ecosystems. Wild kelp forest destruction for harvesting removes habitat for species with clear welfare capacity including fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals. Sustainable seaweed aquaculture that does not damage wild kelp ecosystems supports the welfare of the diverse community of species that inhabit these productive underwater forests.