Ocean Approved, a mussel and kelp aquaculture company based in Portland, Maine, recently became the first U.S. company to receive a lease to cultivate seaweed, a USD 7 billion a year industry that takes place in 28 countries worldwide. CEO Tollef Olson talked with SeafoodSource about the burgeoning kelp-farming industry and his plans for the future.
Grandin: Why did you decide to get into kelp farming and start Ocean Approved?
Olson: I’ve enjoyed seaweed for years. One time five to six years ago I went into a sushi restaurant and I was enjoying my seaweed salad so much I went to try to buy some seaweed. But it all had food coloring and preservatives in it and I thought, “We have 3,500 miles of coast in Maine here that grows perfect product.” We started Ocean Approved in 2006 and it’s taken off so far.
How much kelp and mussels do you expect to this year?
This year we’ve done 150,000 pounds of mussels. But the kelp we just geared up production last winter. Through this next winter we expect to up production hopefully to the 100,000-pound range. This year we’ll be lucky to gross USD 50,000 in kelp — about 2 to 3 tons. We’re just getting going. We ramped up from one product line to three in the last year and upgraded the kitchen, packing and freezing facility. So we’ll be ready to really pick up the pace next year.
When will you make the switch from wild to farmed kelp?
Within two years we’d like to be growing all of our kelp from seed to market. Right now we use mariculture techniques and carefully husband the beds we work. By going into aquaculture we’ll be able to improve the quality and also the length of our seasons. We’ve already gotten permission from the state to grow kelp on the mussel wraps, which is a good place to start but not good grow-out sites. We’re putting our first designated seaweed rig in next week.
We’re also working to take the seeding in house and do our own seeding in the next couple of years. Right now we’re catching small kelp on the rack and we’re transplanting it to a grow-out system. In the future we’d like to do what they do in Asia and actually seed the droppers in a lot situation where you put them in a tank and then you transfer the seeds out to the beds, so you can control your stock and even your genetics.
What about your mussels?
They are 100 percent aquaculture. We have a site up in Blue Hill designated to capturing seed mussels. And then we move them to our rafts in Casco Bay and seed them down to the proper density and grow them out so they’re never on the bottom and we never disturb any wild beds at all.
What products do you currently offer?
We offer three different kinds of kelp, three different varieties, and they’re cut in different fashions. The first is saccharina latissima. It’s cut in a noodle fashion that looks like a spinach fettuccine. We sell all our kelp frozen, cooked, cut and ready to eat so it retains the nice green color. The second line is a kelp salad cut, which is very similar to the wakame you see in sushi bars. We make it from alaria and sell is as “seaweed salad.” The third one we’re using is digitata and we’re doing it in a slaw cut that looks like coleslaw and mixes well with coleslaw and salads. They’re all very versatile.
Who are your major buyers and what markets do you supply?
We work locally with several wholesalers — Harbor Fish Market, Browne Trading Company, Free Range Fish Market, York Lobster and Seafood. They are all mussel wholesalers that we use. For the seaweed we’re focusing on retail first. We’re in five Whole Foods regionally (as far south as Boston) and hope to be in more this winter. As the quality improves in the fall and winter we’re going to focus more on selling wholesale and doing more of a retail package. I have worked with several local chefs, and they’ve expressed a lot of interest. We’ve started on a limited basis and as soon as this year’s crop gets good we’ll start packing wholesale bags. But I have just enough stock to keep the current customers [happy], and as the crop improves this winter we’ll take on new wholesalers.
What are the advantages of kelp farming compared to farming other seafood?
One of the first advantages is zero discharge under the Clean Water Act. We will add absolutely nothing to the water. We aren’t dependent on wild feed like fish. The kelp is beautiful in that for food it eats carbon dioxide in the ocean and neutralizes it. It also helps utilize excess nitrogen and phosphates in the water, too. We’re growing a beautiful vegetable product without any fertilizers, and we don’t require any water.
What do you see for the future of kelp aquaculture?
I definitely think the kelp aquaculture industry will grow fast. The competition right now is mainly Asia, and it’s dominated by dried product that has to be reconstituted and isn’t the same quality. There are one or two kelp companies in Maine, but they’re harvesting in the wild and drying it, whereas we grow our own and don’t dry it.
