The future of seaweed aquaculture involves polyculture — seaweed farms and salmon farms in symbiotic embrace. SeaweedSeaweed BeyondBeyond SushiSushi BY CATHERINE SCHMITT

IVE O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING on the coast of downeast Maine. It is hard to tell what time it is because things while he cuts tiny rectangles of seaweed with a razor blade, Blouin’s path to seaweed research was not necessarily a log- there is no sun, only rain and wind and cold. Beyond the wraps them in aluminum foil, labels them, and drops the pack- ical one. Born in France, he grew up a Navy brat and lived all gray and the crashing green waves there are only a raft of ets into a tank of smoking liquid nitrogen. Each piece represents along the East Coast of the United States. By the time he was in

F Porphyra amplissima eiders and then the fog. a different part of the algae, with different types of cells. The cells his late twenties, he was settling into a career as a magazine pho- The Schoodic Peninsula is almost empty, but Nicolas Blouin is on the edge of the blade reproduce, while the mature cells in the tographer in New York City, shooting portraits of celebrities, there. He is hunting for a seaweed called Porphyra, also known as middle of the blade do not. Blouin will examine the RNA of the rock stars, and fashion models. At 31 he moved to Boston, and purple laver or nori, the black stuff that is wrapped around sushi. different cells to learn more about how the plant reproduces. his camera became focused on a more natural subject: seaweed. Porphyra is a red alga, and the deeper in the water it grows, the red- Blouin chose to work with Porphyra umbilicalis because it is Drawn to the beauty of his subject, Blouin began making pic- Nicolas Blouin photo, der it gets. It turns black when dried. At low tide it coats the rocks present year-round and reproduces asexually, so it is easy to cul- tures of seaweeds (above)using a cyanotype printing technique. with a slippery, shaggy carpet of purplish-brown fronds that grow ture in the lab. Despite his expert knowledge of Porphyra, he says Soon he found himself wanting to know more. He tracked above the rockweed zone. Blouin’s rain-matted hair spikes up in his favorite is the West Coast species Sarcodiotheca gaudichaudii, down Jim Sears, a professor at the University of Massachusetts- the blowing mist of rain and sea spray as he picks Porphyra from a “fun seaweed with a cool name that looks like Thai noodles.” Dartmouth, and began tagging along on class field trips. the rocks, searching for the perfect specimen. He holds a blade up to the gray sky for closer inspection. Aloud, he ponders the sea- BLOUIN BECAME WILD ABOUT SEAWEED. So wild that he Catherine Schmitt(2) weed’s evolutionary strategy—it grows low enough below the tide followed Sears’ advice and took a summer course at the Universi- to avoid physical stress, such as sun and wind, and high enough to ty of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratory, where he spent six be out of the reach of hungry crabs and snails. weeks learning the taxonomy of seaweed. Thoroughly intrigued, What most of us call seaweeds are not true plants but marine he decided to go back to school for marine biology, and ended macroalgae, members of the kingdom Protista, a misfit group of up in Susan Brawley’s laboratory at the University of Maine. ancient organisms that are not quite plant and not quite animal Not every researcher would be willing to take on an older (although taxonomists continue to debate this classification). It is an graduate student without a science background, but Susan important group that serves as the base of the ocean food web. At Brawley had an open mind and took the chance on Blouin. least seven species of Porphyra are native to the New England coast. Brawley had received funding from Maine Sea Grant to exam- In Maine, most species are present only a few months of the year. For ine the potential for seaweed culture in Maine, and she hired example, one type appears only briefly in December and January. Blouin as her graduate assistant on the project. As the morning brightens to whitish gray, Blouin crouches in Today, Brawley and Blouin are collaborating with Cooke the makeshift field laboratory next to his beat-up Toyota, slicing Aquaculture and scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sci- up blades of the species Porphyra umbilicalis. As he explains its ences in Qingdao, China, to experiment with ways to grow sea- biology with a casual but accurate use of scientific terms, the con- weed near salmon farms in Cobscook Bay. Growing seaweed versation wanders: the best brand of rice cooker, what it’s like to alongside salmon pens might reduce the excess nutrients that

courtesy Susan Brawley be a botanist, what it would be like to live in Canada, the pros are the waste product of fish farming. In turn, the seaweed

(top) Nicolas Blouin on a collecting expedition. and cons of restoring plaster, how genes get turned on or off. The Susan Brawley might benefit from the nutrients and grow faster. (middle) His car functions as a field laboratory. topic of seaweed aquaculture doesn’t get lost in the discussion, but In China, nori is grown across hundreds of acres half a mile The Environmental Protection Agency was impressed (bottom) His mentor Susan Brawley on their China trip. instead provides a launching pad to talk about so many other from shore in areas where there are shallow tides. enough with the team’s early work to award Blouin a presti-

96 MAINE BOATS, HOMES & HARBORS | February / March 2007 | Issue 93 www.maineboats.com | MAINE BOATS, HOMES & HARBORS 97 Seaweed Beyond Sushi

DULSE (Palmaria palmate) grows as reddish- LAVER OR NORI (Porphyra IRISH MOSS KELP (Laminaria WINGED KELP SEA LETTUCE (Ulva Seaweed purple, hand-shaped fronds 6 to 12 inches umbilicalis) can be found (Chondrus crispus) is a longicruris) (Alaria esculenta), lactuca) is a thin, tissue-like long and attached to rocks or crevices. On attached to rocks just above the common low intertidal takes the form is a brown alga of green alga that can be Salad the Maine coast, dulse flourishes on rocky rockweed zone. When exposed red alga that grows in of long, broad, olive-brown seen in tide pools, washed outcroppings with moderate turbulence, in by the tide, laver looks like water up to 230 feet golden fronds fronds that grow up on the beach, or Anyone? nutrient-rich reversing falls and strong deflated black balloons. Laver is a deep. Irish moss that grow in up to 12 feet floating in currents in the summer. High in protein, good source of protein, contains carageenan, subtidal areas. long. High in shallow water. There are more than 250 potassium, manganese, zinc, copper, which is extracted for Kelp is a vitamin A and The whole-leaf species of seaweed (or sea iron, fluoride, fluoride, B vitamins, use as a food additive versatile sea calcium, Alaria is plant is used vegetables) in the Gulf of and and vitamins C and stabilizer, emulsifier, vegetable and similar to raw, in soups, Maine region. While most of vitamin E. Laver is dried and filler. is similar to wakame and is and for them are technically edible, B6, dried and pressed into Japanese kombu. used in soups garnishes. only a handful of coastal dulse is a sheets for sushi It is high in and stews. species are commonly con- popular snack and other uses. calcium, potassium, sumed by humans. and a versatile sea magnesium, All listed varieties are available from vegetable. and iron. MAINE COAST SEA VEGETABLES in Franklin, Maine. illustrations by Andrea Sulzer (5) 207-565-2907; http://seaveg.com.

gious STAR fellowship in 2004; com- from our friends at Cooke [Aquaculture]. it can be very difficult for a marine biol- blades. An early start also gives him a long Porphyra cells, then to his office where than 50 years. Brawley and Blouin are bined with additional funding from This project needed someone like him, ogist to find places to work,” said Braw- day to process samples in Brawley’s lab at photographs of seaweeds hang on the collaborating with Fei and Dr. Peng Jiang Maine Sea Grant, the fellowship will who can pick things up very quickly. He’s ley. Because Schoodic is part of Acadia the University of Maine. walls and nori-flecked rice balls warm in to experiment with culture methods in allow Blouin to continue his research for creative and curious and hard working.” National Park, researchers have access to Back in the lab, Blouin places bits of a hotpot on his desk. He scrolls through Maine. “The Chinese have focused a lot a doctorate degree. Seaweed thrives in the cold, clean the coastal sites that are also home to lots the freshly harvested Porphyra in dishes, pictures from his trip to China, where he of resources over a period of 50 years to “Any successful scientist has to bring waters of the Schoodic Peninsula, which of different kinds of organisms. where they float beneath the fluorescent and Brawley went to learn seaweed cul- get to where they are now, which is together a group of skills,” said Brawley. is one reason why this spot has served as Blouin races to Schoodic in the early light like pieces of purple cellophane. As ture from the masters. world leaders of sea vegetable maricul- “Nic is adept at so many different things. a research site for Brawley and other morning hours from his Bangor home so he waits for the fragments to release Xiugeng Fei, a professor at the Chi- ture,”said Brawley,“What we’re trying to He can do almost anything, from the lab researchers for more than a decade. “So he can collect Porphyra before the rising spores, he moves to a microscope to nese Academy of Sciences in Qingdao, do here in Maine is to bring together bench to the field, to learning new knots much of the Maine shore is private, and sun begins to take a toll on the fragile check the progress of three-week-old has been studying seaweed for more groups who are trying to grow and

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process Porphyra—like Maine Coast Sea are placed at various distances from The nets also need to be close native species,” says Mike Hastings of salmon farms could add 207 jobs and tive impact on the natural system. The prac- Vegetables—and those who are trying to Cooke’s salmon pens to determine the enough to the salmon pens to absorb University of Maine’s Office of Research $44 million to the Maine economy. tice of seaweed harvesting has been contro- sustainably culture finfish, like Cooke.” most effective location to grow the seaweed. waste products, but not so close that they and former director of the Maine Aqua- Recognizing that polyculture has versial in the past; studies have shown that “I had heard how large the opera- They have found that the nets should would get in the way of operations. culture Innovation Center.“They are part both economic and ecological benefits, cleared wild areas don’t grow back. tions were in China,”says Blouin, “but I sit about three meters below the water “Ultimately, it’s up to the salmon indus- of a group of pioneers who are looking at and that it is one way to manage dis- Yet seaweed is a valuable resource. don’t think I was aware of the extent of surface, says Blouin. Any closer and too try to want to do this, not us,” says the culture of new species.” charges from marine aquaculture, the The nutrients and minerals that seaweeds it. You name it, they grow it.” much light and heat will kill the seaweed. Blouin. It appears that they do: Cooke Multi-species marine aquaculture, or Governor’s Task Force on the Planning soak up from the ocean are what make Like many other seaweeds, Porphyra But the seaweed also needs to dry out has provided infrastructure, technical polyculture, is a relatively new concept and Development of Marine Aquacul- them such nutritious food for humans. has an interesting life cycle, in which the periodically, as would happen naturally expertise, and assistance with boats, said in Maine; in New Brunswick, Cooke has ture in Maine recommended that the Manufacturing nori sheets for sushi is a leafy stage alternates with a microscopic, as the tides rise and fall. Regular drying Jennifer Robinson, compliance officer experimented with growing kelp and state promote the further use of that $2 billion industry in Japan alone; Asian sporific form. If the organism can be con- keeps other small algae from growing on and fish health specialist with Cooke mussels near salmon farms. Research by technique. Brawley’s research team is species of Porphyra have been used for trolled to produce blades, rather than going the surface of the seaweed. Aquaculture. The company has been Shawn Robinson of the Canadian helping to further that goal. As in most food and medicine for more than 2,000 through the microscopic stage, it will be In China, nori is grown across hun- impressed with the work ethic of Braw- Department of Fisheries and Oceans in pilot studies, the researchers are trying to years in Japan, China, and Korea. easier to produce for commercial use. dreds of acres half a mile from shore in ley and Blouin.“They didn’t just come in St. Andrews has shown that mussels work out the sensitive stages of the seed- Brawley recognizes that a seaweed Meanwhile, Blouin is growing some Por- areas where there are shallow tides. and say, ‘this is how we are going to do grown near salmon pens take up excess ing-to-salmon farm process, so the nori market in Maine is not going to be built phyra from spores using traditional culture Workers get out to the nets by foot, by things,’” said Robinson. “We really feed, grow up to 50% faster, and are nets can be sold and used commercially. on sushi alone. Seaweed can be used as a techniques. boat, or by oxen. After the trip to China, worked as a team. They listened to us higher in omega-3 fatty acids than those At the Cooperative Center for Aquacul- seasoning in powder and flake form, as a This is the purer science part of Blouin’s the researchers realized that a similar and took a lot of our ideas.” grown elsewhere. Kelp growth rates have ture Research in Franklin, Blouin has vegetable, and as a supplemental source graduate work. When asked which he likes operation would never work in the Unit- This isn’t the first time there have also increased. Robinson says that the placed seaweed in experimental flumes of protein, vitamins, and nutrients. more,the strict science or the applied aspects, ed States, because of the cost of labor. been attempts to culture nori in New industry is moving away from mono- and measured how well it takes up nutri- Brawley believes that Maine can make he says both.“It keeps it interesting to me. Instead of hiring people to tend the nets, England. A decade ago, a company culture and toward a more ecological ents from fish effluent. strides in the global market if local busi- Otherwise, I’d be bored.” they would have to automate the named Coastal Plantations unsuccessful- model that recycles waste and nutri- “This summer we are going for broke nesses can find ways to incorporate sea- The applied part of the project is 70 process. For that, they turned to Mick ly tried to grow a Japanese species in ents—“industrial ecology” that attempts and putting out a lot of nets,”says Blouin. weed into western diets. As part of the miles east, in Cobscook Bay, where the Peterson, an associate professor of Cobscook Bay. Now, the focus is on using to fit human activity into the natural sys- “Hopefully we’ll get a real crop, enough project, she is collaborating with Maine researchers are testing the seaweed growing mechanical engineering at the Universi- species that are native to the Maine envi- tem. Plus, growing another product is a to show that this is a feasible industry.” Coast Sea Vegetables in Franklin, the process on the salmon aquaculture lease ty of Maine, who is developing a way to ronment and naturally grow well here. way to get more profit out of an aqua- Another reason to develop culture University of Maine Dining Services, and sites of Cooke Aquaculture (formerly Her- automatically raise and lower the rafts “Nic and Susan have picked up where culture lease site: Robinson estimates techniques is that there are concerns that Professor Denise Skonberg from the itage Salmon). Nets “seeded”with Porphyra that hold the nets. Coastal Plantations left off, by looking at that growing mussels and seaweed on harvesting wild seaweed may have a nega- University of Maine’s Department of

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Food Science and Human Nutrition to ect. He even claims that he is more of an more nutritious, locally grown food, develop a domestic market for Porphyra aesthete than a scientist, but others may Blouin and Brawley will be partly that goes beyond traditional Asian cui- be tempted to disagree given his success responsible. sine. In December 2005, for example, the on such a complex, interdisciplinary University’s Maine Marketplace held research project. In the end, if Maine’s Catherine Schmitt has been a science writer a sea vegetable promotional day with seaweed and aquaculture industry con- with the Maine Sea Grant Program at the dishes created by university chefs. The tinues to grow, and people of Maine eat University of Maine, Orono, since 2004. successful event won a gold award from the National Association of College and MORE INFORMATION University Food Services. As seaweed becomes more popular and valuable as a commercial product, Chris Bartlett, an extension associate there are concerns that over-harvesting may impact seaweed populations. with Maine Sea Grant’s Marine Extension Maine enacted a seaweed harvesting permitting system in 1999 and the Team, who has been helping with the Department of Marine Resources regulates harvesting in the state. Guidelines project, notes how unusual it is for and licenses for harvesting Maine’s seaweeds are available from the DMR: researchers to focus on so many aspects of www.maine.gov/dmr. a subject at once.“Most people would just try to get the experiment to work and MAINE SEAWEED COMPANY, www.alcasoft.com/seaweed, Steuben, is a worry about the marketing later,” says small, family company that offers hand-harvested dried Atlantic seaweeds. Bartlett, “but Susan and Nic are doing things differently.” Maine seaweed is not just for eating. It provides the raw material for many As the project continues, the commercial products. Seaweed is an important ingredient in organic compost researchers will profile the nutritional and fertilizer. OCEAN ORGANICS, Waldoboro, specializes in seaweed prod- characteristics of Porphyra umbilicalis, ucts for golf courses; COAST OF MAINE ORGANIC PRODUCTS offers a and continue to help move the process of seaweed mulch, and ATLANTIC LABS makes seaweed-based fertilizer and growing seaweed from the lab to the an animal feed supplement. NORTH AMERICAN KELP, commercial sector. But Blouin, an artist www.noamkelp.com, Waldoboro, sells kelp products. ACADIAN SEAPLANTS at heart, is more interested in the seaweed OF NOVA SCOTIA, www.acadianseaplants.com, provides sea vegetables and itself than the business end of the proj- derivatives for various commercial uses.

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