MAB: Marine Algae Biorefinery is a 24-month community-led pilot action in Stykkishólmur and along the Snæfellsnes coastline of West Iceland, where declining fisheries and reduced local marine processing capacity have created an urgent need for resilient and sustainable economic diversification. The project places coastal communities at the centre of marine ecosystem stewardship, transforming underutilised seaweed resources into a long-term regional asset governed, managed, and owned by local people.
Through a participatory governance model involving municipalities, local harvesters, fisheries stakeholders, farmers, landowners, and community organisations, MAB establishes Iceland’s first community-based framework for sustainable marine algae management. A permanent community stewardship committee, created during the project, ensures continued ecosystem oversight and adaptive governance beyond the funding period. Training and capacity-building activities reach at least 50 local stakeholders, while 5 to 10 new skilled regional jobs are created in harvesting, processing, and ecosystem stewardship.
Science-based stock mapping covers more than 500 hectares of coastline, organic-certified processing scales toward 4,000 wet tonnes annually, and validated biostimulant and feed additive products reduce dependence on synthetic agricultural inputs. An open-access Atlantic-Arctic replication framework enables other North Atlantic coastal communities to adopt the model.