March, 2024
Published by: theportugalnews.com
At 13, most kids are thinking about school holidays or weekend plans. Benton Schroeder is preparing to cycle 300 kilometres from Lisbon to the Algarve.
The ride, which will take place in early May, is part of a campaign to raise awareness for something rarely seen but increasingly under threat: the ocean floor.
Benton is cycling in support of seaweed farming, a growing area of marine restoration that scientists and environmental groups are starting to take more seriously. His goal is to raise €10,000 for Hope Zones, a project founded by João Macedo that established Portugal’s first regenerative seaweed farm in Nazaré. The funds will go towards developing a new farm in the Algarve.
The issue he is drawing attention to is bottom trawling, a fishing method that drags heavy nets across the seabed. While it remains legal in many areas, including some that are technically protected, it is widely criticised for the damage it causes. The process can strip away entire ecosystems, destroying habitats that have taken decades, sometimes centuries, to form. It also disturbs carbon stored in the seabed, releasing it back into the water and atmosphere.
Seaweed farming offers a different approach. Unlike many forms of aquaculture, it does not require feed, fertilisers or freshwater. Instead, it grows by absorbing nutrients already present in the ocean. Research suggests seaweed can absorb carbon at a faster rate than many land plants, while also creating shelter for marine life and helping stabilise degraded environments.
For Benton, the connection to the ocean is personal. Now living near the Ria Formosa, he has grown up around coastal ecosystems. He has spent time in Florida helping release rehabilitated turtles, and in Maine learning from oyster harvesters and lobstermen. Environmental protection, in his case, is not abstract. It is something he has seen up close.
His ride is part of the One Ocean Planet “Hero Kids” initiative, which supports young people taking on environmental challenges. The project has also been recognised under the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, placing it within a broader global effort to rethink how oceans are protected and restored.
Benton is expected to arrive at Praia do Ancão on 10 May, where supporters are invited to join him at the finish. The funds raised will be donated in early June. If this kind of work continues, restoration may not need to be a distant idea. It could become something more visible, and more immediate.
