A new venture in the U.S. state of Maine seeks to grow and market sugar kelp, joining a small but growing number of commercial seaweed farmers operating in New England.
Nathan Johnson is the owner of Shearwater Ventures, which was just granted a lease from the state to grow and harvest kelp on nearly four acres of seabed off Chebeague Island in Casco Bay. Johnson’s lease, which will cost him USD 100 (EUR 96) per acre annually, is good for up to three years, according to an article in the Portland Press Herald.
Johnson plans to grow up to 25 tons of seaweed annually. He told the Press Herald he will sell his kelp to Ocean Approved, another kelp farming and marketing operation based in Maine. Ocean Approved sells the frozen seaweed diced for salads and cubed for smoothies.
Other types of kelp can be used for biofuel, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, the newspaper reported.
