Watch the first California Seaweed Festival now! (Nov. 16-21, 2020)

For years people have come from all over the world to places like SeaWorld or the Monterey Bay Aquarium to see the rich and diverse California sea life. One of California’s crown jewels of the ocean has been seaweed. The giant kelp is the posterchild of a healthy and robust marine ecosystem. However, seaweed is largely ignored despite its critical role in the ecosystem and numerous human uses. Not anymore!

This week the first California Seaweed Festival kicked off! Due to the COVID pandemic, the festival is being held virtually, and for 6 days a number of speakers will talk on various seaweed topics.

Day 1: Seaweed Farming

Day 2: Seaweed as Food

Day3: Seaweed Science

Day 4: Seaweed Art

Day 5: Sustainable Seaweed Innovation

Day 6: Community Involvement & Seaweed Fun

The festival’s mission statement is,

“We want to share the beauty and diversity of seaweeds on our coasts, how seaweeds enrich coastal environments making seawater cleaner and a better habitat for hundreds of other species. We are inspired by all the ways that people use seaweeds, for food, fuel, climate resilience, awe and fun. Many Californians don’t know about the hundreds of kinds of seaweeds that flourish on our coast. So, with help from California Sea Grant, we organized the first California Seaweed Festival in 2020, to celebrate all things seaweed in California! “

You can visit the festival website here

Watch the talks via the festival’s youtube channel here

Prepare for your spring garden by adding seaweed now

With Halloween in the rearview mirror and winter rapidly approaching, you may find yourself preparing your garden for the winter season. Some experts claim they have found a way to keep your soil healthy throughout the winter months, the solution is just lying on the beach. Seaweed has long been used in farming as a mulch for its high nutrient content, however, recently some farmers and seaweed experts have explained their success by adding seaweed to the soil before winter instead of springtime.

Seaweed has 16 or 17 different essential plant macro and micronutrients, including selenium manganese and iodine which are depleted soil and can get replenished through the seaweed. It also offers a little bit of nitrogen which will increase your soil’s water holding capacity. Some farmers claim, allowing seaweed to degrade over the winter is more effective than using it as mulch during the growing season. When it’s used fresh as a mulch, it can be too high in sodium. The residue from the sea salt and the concentrated salt can burn the plant if used as a fresh mulch. One of the best ways to take advantage of the mineral properties of seaweed in the garden is to apply it on top of raised garden beds after they are cleared and prepared for the winter.

It also turns out that the best time to collect seaweed on the beach is the end of Autumn through Fall. This is the period when the kelp begins to die back and become dislodged from the seafloor. When collecting seaweeds off the beach please check with your local regulatory office for collection laws and limitations.

Read the original article here

The man who discovered umami

Did you know we owe seaweed for helping discover umami?

Kikunae Ikeda a Japanese chemist and professor at Tokyo Imperial University had been studying a broth made from seaweed and dried fish flakes called dashi. Through numerous chemical assays, Ikeda had been trying to isolate the molecules behind its distinctive taste. In a 1909 paper, Ikeda claimed the flavor in question came from the amino acid glutamate, a building block of proteins. He suggested that the savory sensation triggered by glutamate should be one of the basic tastes that give something flavor, on a par with sweet, sour, bitter, and salt. He called it “umami”, riffing on a Japanese word meaning “delicious”.

Ikeda’s paper was not well received, and it took over a hundred years for the term “umami” to be internationally recognized. Over the decades, scientists began to put together how umami works. Each new insight brought the claim put forth by Ikeda into better focus. The discovery that made umami stick was about 20 years ago, showing that there are specific receptors in taste buds that pick up on amino acids. Multiple research groups have now reported on these receptors, which are tuned to specifically stick onto glutamate.

Ikeda, found a seasoning manufacturer and started to produce his own line of umami seasoning. The product, a monosodium glutamate (MSG) powder called Aji-No-Moto, is still made today. (Although rumors have swirled periodically that eating too much MSG can give people headaches and other health problems, the US Food and Drug Administration has found no evidence for such claims. It just makes food taste more savory.)     

While other food items have umami flavors, it was seaweed that gave the term life.

New study examines the lipid profile of the sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima)

A recent study titled ”Polar lipid profile of Saccharina latissima, a functional food from the sea” was just published in the journal, Algal Research.

Saccharina latissima is a brown alga (kelp). It is known by the common name sugar kelp, and also sea belt or Devil's apron, due to its shape. Sugar kelp grows relatively fast and large (about 5 meters, or 16 feet long), and its ability to be grown on a long line also makes it an appealing species for near shore cultivation. Indeed sugar kelp farms have been on the rise within the USA.

The researchers examined all the lipids within sugar kelp important for either nutrition or other commercial use. They reported high levels of PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids), such as the highly prized omega-3s, EPA and DHA that are typically sourced from fish oils. Western diets present high levels of omega-6 PUFAs, with a nutritional ratio omega-6/omega-3 greater than 2, which has been associated with increased risk of mortality due to cancer, cardiovascular, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. However, marine macroalgae, such as S. latissima, present a much higher prevalence of omega-3 PUFAs than land vegetables. A diet rich in omega-3 PUFAs can reduce Omega-6/Omega-3 ratio, being nutritionally more healthful and contributing to the prevention of chronic diseases

Flexible Conductors from Brown Algae for Green Electronics

Researchers recently published about novel conductors in Advanced Sustainable Systems. What makes these conductors so novel is they are made from brown algae or kelps.

Alginate from brown seaweeds are are used to make a flexible sodium alginate film. Ultrathin gold layers are then added to the alginate film. The resulting foils are thin, easy to handle, and shape, while showing good conductive properties.

The researchers believe this novel use of sodium alginate conductors is a “very promising candidate to be employed in green electronics, thanks to the reduced energy consumption required for their fabrication, the absence of toxic components or chemicals that are derived from oil, and the possibility to disassemble the devices at the end of their life in environmentally friendly conditions.”

The research can be viewed here

Pickled Kelp Recipe

This sounds so good!

Apparently in Alaska, pickled kelp is a treat sold in stores. They use bullwhip kelp (Nereocystis), which is a brown alga that grows as one hollow stalk, or stipe, through the water column. The long flexible stalk resembles an enlarged whip, which is where the common name, bullwhip kelp, came from. The hollow stalk is cut into rings and pickled.

We can’t wait to try this with other types of seaweed.

Here is a link to an article in Alaska floats my boat, that outlines the process step by step. (Instructions below)

Get your canning supplies ready to go: 

• A large pot with a lid to process the jars in, and enough water to cover the jars by at least an inch

• A small pot half full of water to simmer the lids in

• A large pot to boil the kelp mixture in

• Colander  

• Clean, hot pint and/or half-pint jars (keep hot in simmering water or in the oven)  This recipe fills about six pints or twelve half pints.

• Ladle, spoons, canning funnel, jar grabber, towels to set jars on, lid magnet, cloth to wipe rims, hot pads

If you haven't canned before then please check with your extension service or a reference like the Ball Blue Book of Canning to learn the basics.

Bread and Butter Kelp Pickles:  

• 3 quarts bull kelp stipe sliced into 1/4" to 1/2" thick "O's"

• 2 large onions chopped or sliced

• 1/4 cup canning salt

• 1 pint vinegar 5% acidity

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon celery seeds

• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon peppercorns

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine kelp and onion in a large bowl. Sprinkle with canning salt, stir the salt through the kelp and onion. Let stand for one hour.  Rinse well with fresh water.

Get your big pot of water for processing going so that it will be at a boil when your jars are packed. Put new, clean jar lids in the little pot, and start bringing them up to a simmer when you start boiling the kelp.

Measure the sugar and spices, stirring the spices into the sugar to prevent any clumping. Combine sugar and spices with vinegar in a large pot and bring to a boil to make the syrup.

Add the rinsed, drained kelp and onions to the hot syrup and bring to a boil again. 

When you first add the kelp to the syrup it will turn bright green! 

Pack the kelp and onions into a clean, hot jar. Use the back of a spoon to press the kelp in.  Ladle in syrup to within 1/2 inch of the top. If the kelp is packed loosely then you will run out of syrup before all of the jars are filled, so pack 'em in.

Wipe the rim, put the lid and ring on, and proceed to the next jar. 

Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove the jars from the bath, set upright about one inch apart on a folded towel away from drafts to cool. 

Check that all of the jars sealed. If any didn't seal then put them in the refrigerator and eat the pickles within a few weeks.

Label the jars with contents and date. 

The kelp pickles can be eaten right away, but the flavor is better after a week or so.  

Canadian seaweed infused gin wins award

Sheringham Distillery is nestled in the heart of Shirley, B.C.

A few of their gins are infused with the winged kelp Alaria marginata, but their flagship gin, Seaside, took best contemporary gin in the WORLD at the world gin awards.

Seaside gin is described as, citrus/ floral and notes of the sea make our gin as refreshing as a seaside stroll. Made from B.C. white wheat, B.C. malted barley, natural botanicals and sustainable hand-harvested local winged kelp (Alaria marginata).

Creator Jason Maclsaac said., “The kelp in Seaside gin gives it a sense of the region. The kelp also ties all the bontanicals together and balances them out and gives it a sense of umami”

Seaweed folklore: Predicting rain

Over the weekend, people in the USA sought weather advice from a rodent. Groundhog day (Feb. 2nd) is a superstitious tradition where if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks, and if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early. 

There are many different superstitions across cultures to predict weather, some have a kernel of truth while others are outright ridiculous.

Did you know that seaweeds have been used to predict rain? The tradition is to hang dried seaweed outside with a nail. If the seaweed stays dry the weather will be sunny and dry. If the seaweed is wet and flexible, as if it had just been from the ocean, then rain is coming.

The origin of this tradition is unknown, but the kernel of truth is valid. Seaweeds are able to dehydrate and re-hydrate over and over. If there is enough moisture in the air the dried seaweed will re-hydrate. It turns out that moisture in the air can be a decent indicator of rain.

If you want to read about some other interesting weather predicting traditions there is a good article here

The shellfish industry needs a kelping hand in fighting ocean acidification

Ocean acidification is a daunting problem for shellfish farmers. It turns out that when the water becomes more acidic, the organisms aren’t so good at building their shells or reproducing. Oyster farms off the coast of Washington have already started to see the detrimental effects of increasing acidity.

In response, Paul G. Allen awarded $1.5 million to the Puget Sound Restoration Fund to investigate how kelp could help. Kelp and other seaweeds are able to take up CO2 out of the water, and therefore would make a micro climate of less acidic water. The research being led by Dr. Jonathan Davis , is specifically aimed at how kelps could be used around shellfish farms to create a acid buffer.

Davis is so optimistic, he has already began researching how the seaweed can be used as an additional commercial product for shellfish farmers. He is actively exploring kelp uses from food to fuel.

This multi-culture approach is really good idea. First off, these seaweeds would contribute to carbon drawdown, aiding in the removal of CO2 in the oceans. Additional benefits are protecting a farmers shellfish product while also adding a new revenue stream by selling seaweed products.

You can read more about the project here

You can read an article about Dr. Davis here

Chileans are shifting from seaweed gatherers to cultivators

A recent article in Botanica Marina highlights a shift in the seaweed industry. The seaweed industry in Chile has predominately been a process of gathering off the coast, but that’s all changing now. The Chilean government provided subsidies to seaweed farming activities and investments in local valorization of the resources. The subsidies coupled with an increased number of technical studies related to seaweed resources has enabled the industry to pivot to seaweed cultivation.

New study uses matrix approach to evaluate ecosystem services by seaweeds

A new study recently came out from the Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand, that uses a matrix approach to evaluate ecosystem services provided by a number of marine species.

The list of species evaluated included seaweeds, crustaceans, worms, and more. The services provided were broken into three main categories: habitat & supporting services , regulating services, and provisioning services.

While this study was New Zealand focused, it serves as a good reference of positive impacts by a species. Furthermore, a number of the study species are currently farmed and this study could be useful in aquaculture spatial planning.

The paper can be viewed here

Real kombucha is made from seaweed

Kombucha is commonly known as a fermented, slightly alcoholic, lightly effervescent, sweetened black or green tea drink. How kombucha came to mean black/green tea has been lost in translation. Real kombucha is made from seaweed.

In Japanese, Cha (茶) means tea, and kombu means brown seaweed (kelp), therefore kombucha is kelp tea!

Below is a video showing how real kombucha is made.

Food & Wine predicts seaweed to be one of the biggest food trends of 2019!

An article from Wood & Wine, listed their top 11 predictions for 2019. Each listed item was foretasted by a renowned chef. The predictions include everything from restaurant style, phone usage, and food.

Number 6 on the list is KELP! Marc Murphy, executive chef and owner of Benchmarc Restaurants, cookbook author, and Chopped judge, predicts you will start seeing more and more seaweed on menus. Murphy mentions, it’s a good sustainable option for diners and oceans.

If you are interested in the other predictions from 2019, read the full article here

Seaweed common names: Kombu

There are many names for commonly consumed seaweeds. However, the species they refer to vary by region and culture. We will cover some of the most commonly used names for seaweeds, and review the differences between connotation and denotation. This series will review some of the most common common-names in use.

Previous posts include: Nori, Wakame, Laver

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Kombu is a common name for seaweeds that typically belong to the group of brown seaweeds: Laminariaceae. Kombu is traditionally used for soup stocks, salads, and even fertilizer. Brown seaweeds are high in minerals and by adding them dishes one can improve the nutritional value of their food.

The word kombu is Japanese, but it’s thought to be borrowed from the Chinese. In old Japanese the word for seaweed was “me” as in “waka-me”. The predominant theory, is that kombu is derived from the Chinese word 昆布 kūnbù, which is traced back to the 3rd century in China. However, records from the 8th century are spotty at best in their descriptions of kūnbù, and it is impossible to know what species of seaweeds they were referring to.

Nowadays there are modifiers to separate the different species of kombu. (Borrowed from Wikipedia).

• Saccharina japonica (Laminaria japonica), Ma-kombu [ja] –

• Saccharina japonica var. religiosa (Laminaria religiosa), Hosome-kombu [ja] –

• Saccharina japonica var. diabolica (Laminaria diabolica), Oni-kombu [ja] –

• Saccharina japonica var. ochotensis (Laminaria ochotensis), Rishiri-kombu [ja] – commonly used for soup stocks

• Saccharina latissima (Laminaria saccharina), Karafuto-kombu – It contains mannitol and is considered sweeter.

• Saccharina angustata (Laminaria angustata), Mitsuishi-kombu [ja] – commonly used in the making of dashi

• Saccharina longissima (Laminaria longissima),　Naga-kombu [ja] –

• Saccharina coriacea (Laminaria coriacea), Gaggara-kombu [ja] –

• Saccharina sculpera (Kjellmaniella sculpera), Gagome-kombu [ja] –

• Saccharina longipedalis (Laminaria longipedalis), Enaga-kombu –

• Saccharina gyrata (Kjellmaniella gyrata), tororo-kombu [ja] –

• Saccharina cichorioides (Laminaria cichorioides), Chijimi-kombu –

• Arthrothamnus bifidus, nekoashi-kombu [ja] –

However, in other parts of the world the term kombu is used to describe other species of brown algae such as Saccharina or Laminaria. For example, the company Salt Point Seaweed calls Laminaria setchellii, California kombu.

Seaweed common names: Wakame

There are many names for commonly consumed seaweeds. However, the species they refer to vary by region and culture. We will cover some of the most commonly used names for seaweeds, and review the differences between connotation and denotation. This series will review some of the most common common-names in use.

Previous posts include: Nori

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Wakame

Wakame is another edible seaweed popularized by the Japanese. You are probably familiar with wakame in the form of seaweed salad or as the little green strips within your miso soup.

ワカメ pronounced wakame, translates to seaweed, but in modern Japanese dictionaries directly refers to a specific species, Undaria pinnatifida.

Undaria pinnatifida is a brown seaweed (kelp) that grows substantially along rocky temperate coasts. The Latin root is Unda = wavy, and Pinna = pinnately cleft. Wakame in Japanese is derived from waka + me (若布, lit. young seaweed).

As early as the 8th century wakame was known to be harvested off the coast of Japan, China, and Korea. Undaria pinnatifida has since then spread to various regions of the world and has been added to the list of 100 most invasive species. Most recently Undaria pinnatifida crossed the pacific ocean again on debris carried from the 2011 tsunami.

Wakame is typically harvested, dried or blanched, and then sold. Upon purchase the wakame is then re-hydrated by soaking in water or soups.

While in the USA we are more familiar with the term wakame, other cultures call Undaria pinnatifida by other names: Qun dai cai (Chinese), Miyeouk (Korean), or sea mustard (English).

Today many foragers refer to other species as wakame. On the north coast some species of Alaria are being labeled as wakame as there is no native Undaria.

The origin of the word Kelp, and how it helped win the first world war

The term “kelp” originated in Europe and was used to describe the ash of burnt seaweeds. During the 16th century seaweeds were harvested and burnt for sodium compounds (soda), iodine, and potassium compounds (potash). Seaweed potash and soda were used to make glass, soaps, fertilizers, and eventually gunpowder. The seaweeds that contained the most soda and potash were said to be the brown seaweeds, thus Laminariales became commonly known as “kelps.”

Germany, in the late 1800s, was the largest producer of mineral potash in the world. After the start of the first world war, Germany put an embargo on potash, cutting off the largest consumer of potash, the Americans.

In response, the Americans industrialized kelp harvesting in southern California to produce potash for gunpowder.

The kelp harvesting industry has since declined as other sources of compounds were found. However, it was this industrial wartime in the early 1900s that led to intense kelp forest research which has continued to this day.

Hercules Powder Company (South Bay Historical Society)

Closing the nutrient loop with seaweed farming.

As discussed in the last post, agriculture runoff is a huge problem. Nutrients are running off the land and into our oceans.Today in a recent article from Scientific America, the idea was batted around to take up ocean nutrients with kelp then turn it into fertilizers. These fertilizers could then be used again on land to replenish the nutrients lost. Not only would this help close the nutrient loop, but also take excess carbon out of the oceans.

This is just another example how seaweeds can help reverse negative anthropogenic impacts to our oceans.

How do farmers get giant pumpkins? With a little help from seaweed.

Tomorrow is Halloween! Tradition dictates that you go to the pumpkin patch, select the pumpkin that calls to you, and carve it into a jack o'lantern. Every now and then, you will come across a giant pumpkin. You know the ones that we mean, they look like a half inflated beach ball that requires a forklift to move. The largest giant pumpkin ever recorded in the USA weighed an impressive 2,528 pounds.

How do they get so big? A farmer in Wisconsin shares his secret. At their farm they use seaweed. They claim that seaweed has extra minerals and nutrients that the pumpkin needs to grow fast.

Read more here

Robots are coming to save kelp forests from urchins

Kelp forests around the world have been in trouble. Some reports indicate that the global kelp biomass has been reduced by a 3rd in the last decade. Recently northern California, Australia, and Maine have been hit hard by a population explosion of purple urchins. These urchins graze on seaweeds and can clear entire kelp beds.

What’s causing these urchin booms is unclear, but most signs point to rising ocean temperature. With global temperatures set to rise, these urchin booms may become more frequent.

Some groups have taken it upon themselves to remove urchins from kelp beds, however this takes a lot of manpower and resources, such as, boats and SCUBA equipment. A new startup out of Stanford has designed robots that can go down to 120 feet underwater and collect urchins autonomously. This could be a vital resource in kelp forest defense.

Read more about their project here. (While this article is good at describing the project, we need to note the biological discrepancies. Kelp forests don’t provide 70% of the global oxygen. Kelp forests are important to fisheries, but there are a number of habitats that contribute to global fisheries and to say that kelp forests are the foundation of all fisheries is an overstatement)