A Baltic island’s leap into sustainable innovation
This article was featured in Eurofish Magazine 4 2025.
An entrepreneur based on a remote Estonian island is building a seaweed farming business from scratch from production, to processing, marketing, and sales.
In the middle of the Gulf of Riga lies Ruhnu, a tiny Estonian island closer to Latvia than to mainland Estonia. Isolated and quiet, Ruhnu is a speck of land only 12 square kilometres in size, with a year-round population that drops from some 400 people to around 50 in winter. Despite its remoteness, Ruhnu is becoming the setting for an ambitious experiment in sustainable living, local innovation, and the transformation of marine resources. Ruhnu is part of UNESCO biosphere reserve programme which sets an example for the coexistence of man and nature.
Creating a future on a tiny island
Architect and entrepreneur Mihkel Urmet, originally from Tallinn, stumbled upon Ruhnu by accident during a fishing holiday. There, he met Eeva Lauk, a native of the island, and gradually moved to living on the island full-time. Yet life on Ruhnu presented challenges, particularly around employment and sustainability. The seasonal nature of tourism, limited local jobs, and harsh winters made it clear that something new was needed to create a future on the island. The solution did not come from land, but from the sea. While Ruhnu itself is small, the surrounding marine territory is vast. This contrast inspired Mihkel and Eeva to look at the sea not only as a landscape but as a potential source of income. At first, they explored sustainable fishing. However, over time they discovered that fish populations had declined, partly due to increasing seal populations and natural marine dynamics. The sea is eutrophic, he says, meaning it is too rich in nutrients some of which comes from -agriculture runoff. If agriculture has been part of the problem, could it also be a solution to fix the sea?
Among the products made by Planet Ruhnu is a seaweed infused gin.
Through a chance architectural commission, Mr Urmet met Jonne Kotta, a leading marine biologist in Estonia. Their discussions shifted the focus from fish to seaweed. Seaweed, it turned out, offered unique advantages: it did not need fresh water or fertiliser, it absorbed carbon dioxide, and it could thrive in Ruhnu’s nutrient-rich waters. The couple’s interest quickly turned to experimentation. Their early products were developed using wild-harvested seaweed. These included a Baltic twist on Korean kimchi and a gin infused with seaweed, both of which were enthusiastically received by local testers and visitors. Although Estonia has little tradition of eating seaweed, fermented cabbage and sauerkraut are familiar staples, making the leap to kimchi—fortified with seaweed—relatively seamless.
Collecting wild seaweed gives way to cultivation
Building on this success, Mihkel and Eeva began designing a formal method of cultivation—the goal was to get cleaner and higher quality raw produce. Working with TalTech (Tallinn University of Technology), they developed doughnut-shaped floating units inspired by traditional fish cages which are formed of a floating ring at the surface to which a net is attached. These modular structures allowed for controlled seaweed farming in the shallow, calm waters off one side of the island. Buoys help keep them afloat and they are anchored to ensure they stay in place. The cages are inoculated with seaweed end-April or early May which grows and can be harvested until October. The winter is then used to convert the biomass into value-added products. Ruhnu’s waters, ranging from two to four metres in depth in the selected area, are ideal for the non-attaching types of -seaweed they chose to grow. These species reproduce while floating freely, requiring no seabed anchoring. Mr Urmet selected two varieties that were edible and tasty and started to grow them. Unlike fish or mussel farming, which involve animal welfare concerns and are prone to stress-related losses, seaweed cultivation is low-impact and potentially more sustainable. Seaweed predates trees and is robust against environmental fluctuations, although warmer waters may pose challenges in the future. Estonia’s regulatory framework has not caught up with this entrepreneurial approach to growing seaweed. There are few, if any, laws or guidelines for seaweed farming. Official studies have even discouraged it, concluding it was not economically feasible. Getting permits is time-consuming and difficult, says Eeva, partly because no one quite understands what we are doing or why. Despite these headwinds, their company, Planet Ruhnu is forging a path, developing not only products but also the structures, processes, and business models required to make their venture work.
Value addition is critical for economic reasons
The project goes beyond just farming seaweed. Mihkel and Eeva are trying to do more than just sell raw material. This decision is both practical and strategic. Offering dried seaweed alone has little market appeal in Estonia but turning it into gourmet food or a premium spirit makes the business viable. Seaweed farming plays on the growing interest in vegetarianism—while consuming meat has a high environmental footprint, eating plants is better for the planet, and a seaweed diet has a positive impact on nature—eating seaweed makes the world a better place, they say. The vision also includes sustainable infrastructure. The couple plans to set up their processing facility next to the off-grid island’s backup power station, which runs on biodiesel. They hope to capture and reuse the station’s waste heat to dry seaweed, further reducing their environmental impact. All production electricity needs will come from wind and solar energy. Their business is still in its early stages. The gin is currently contract-distilled off-island, as building an alcohol factory on Ruhnu made little sense. The kimchi is handmade and sold primarily through direct contact or on their website, Planet Ruhnu. Commercial volumes remain small, but a growing fan base and positive reactions suggest broader interest. The couple is working to scale up production and is exploring wholesale and retail opportunities.
Seaweed has many potential uses
The duo’s ambitions remain rooted in the unique geography and culture of Ruhnu. The seaweed kimchi connects local traditions with global trends, turning the island’s folkloric association with cabbage into a modern story about the environment and healthy living. The community garden and cooperative land use, while historically trendy in Ruhnu, mirror global interest in sustainable, communal agriculture. Seaweed’s potential is vast. Beyond food and drink, it has uses in medicine, cosmetics, paper, and packaging. An Italian company has already approached Planet Ruhnu to supply seaweed. Their first request was for 10 tonnes, far beyond the couple’s current output. For now, they are focused on food-grade seaweed, where the value per kilogram is highest and quality standards are most demanding.
The seaweed is freshly harvested from cages in the sea and is used in different applications
including kimchi and gin. The potential is considerable as seaweed has, among others,
uses in medicines, cosmetics, paper, and packaging.
A model for small-island dwellers everywhere
For the moment we treat it like a hobby, and we are putting a lot of effort into creating the whole value chain and developing it into a business, says Mr -Urmet. But the small scale is a strength. Each decision—from -drying methods to distribution—can be carefully calibrated to maximise value, reduce waste, and protect the environment. Even in a future where Ruhnu might export to Latvia or beyond, the emphasis will likely remain on premium, low-volume, high-quality products. On an island with no bridge to the mainland and where even the weather determines whether visitors can arrive, Ruhnu is becoming a quiet pioneer of climate-friendly entrepreneurship. Its seaweed business offers not only a livelihood for its residents but also a model for other isolated communities seeking to build sustainable futures from
local resources.