Promising results in seaweed aquaculture trials
According to the Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the Irish Fisheries Board, cultivated Laminaria digitata (a brown kelp seaweed) has been grown very successfully on long lines in Roaring Water Bay.
This winter’s harvest results are eagerly awaited, in a three-year project to grow three species of seaweed with valuable nutritional properties in an aquaculture environment.
Results so far have shown that sustainable industrial-scale cultivation is viable; now results are awaited from the harvest and from trials being carried out by BIM’s industrial partners.
Seaweed offers great potential as a food ingredient, with beneficial components claimed to lower cholesterol, reduce blood pressure, fight obesity, promote healthy digestion and tackle free radicals. Seaweed is virtually fat and calorie-free, making it even more popular as an ingredient.
Sean Connick, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has announced government plans to grow the seaweed industry from its current €10m to €20m per year, by 2013.
Dried and packaged Laminaria digitata can sell for €10 to €16/kg in bulk quantities, as a functional food ingredient to combat cellulite and obesity.
Two red seaweeds with potential nutritional benefits, Palmaria palmata and Porphyro, are also being cultivated in the BIM trial, currently in the laboratory, and they will be grown at sea later.
