Rapidly Rising Interest in Seaweed
Karl Gunnarsson, biologist and seaweed specialist. Photo/Svanhildur Egilsdóttir
Hardly a week goes by without inquiries being sent to the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute regarding the processing or growing of seaweed, Morgunblaðið reports. Karl Gunnarsson, biologist at the institute, states the inquiries come from Icelandic and foreign companies alike.
In general, he notes, there is rising interest the world over in the growing and processing seaweed. The products are used in a variety of ways: in food production, in the manufacturing of pharmaceutics, in industry, in the making of fertilizers, and as a snack.
Thorverk hf. at Reykhólar, the West Fjords, has for a number of years dried and milled the seaweeds Ascophyllum and Laminaria from Breiðafjörður fjord, placing an emphasis on sustainability. The company is owned mostly by foreign parties.
Several months ago, the Irish company Celtic Sea Minerals (which owns a 75 percent stake in the calcareous algae processing company Íslenska kalkþörungafélagið in Bíldudalur, the West Fjords) had plans to start processing seaweed from Breiðafjörður fjord. A Canadian company has now taken over that project, Karl explains.
A Scottish company recently began looking into processing tanglewood — a type of large, brown algae — in North Iceland. (See our previous report here). It is now cooperating with Icelanders, and the joint effort is called Íslandsþari, a.k.a. Icelandic Kelp.
A few companies have been growing Laminaria saccharina, or sugar sea belt, in the ocean, both in Stykkishólmur, West Iceland, and in Bolungarvík, the West Fjords. Besides, there have been plans to utilize seaweed in Patreksfjörður, the West Fjords, to soak up nutrients that come from fish waste at fish farms, thereby decreasing pollution, while also growing seaweed for other uses.
Some companies collect seaweed on beaches for the making of cosmetic products, while others collect seaweed for consumption.
Karl states that seaweed is rich in vitamins, minerals and protein.
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