Kelp Farming And Restoring The Kelp Forest Marine Habitat On California’s Coast
The existence of giant kelp forests off the Channel Islands were first reported by a Santa Barbara newspaper on September 7, 1881 (SBDP) “The discovery that there are quantities of edible seaweed in the Santa Barbara Channel, may be of vast importance to this region..” In the late 1800’s Chinese immigrant laborers were the first to discover and exploit the commercial value of kelp and the shellfish (abalone, clam and oysters) found off the giant kelp forests of the Channel Islands. Eventually Chinese and Japanese merchants exported the dried kelp and shellfish back to China and Japan. Unlike today, most American’s did not eat kelp and marveled at the Chinese who collected it and added it to their food. Kelp exports to China increased for several years, before Japanese merchants also began exporting kelp from Santa Barbara.
By the turn of the century, kelp became a large industry with the harvesting of kelp for farm fertilizer through the end of World War I. “At the time of our last Biennial Report the kelp beds of California were being taxed to their utmost to furnish potash, the supply of which was cut off from Europe by the war. When this source of supply was cut off potash manufactured from kelp sold readily for four times the pre-war price. About 400,000 tons of kelp were being cut annually... soon after the signing of the armistice nearly all kelp harvesting ceased, for as yet a sufficient market had not been found for the by-products... It is possible that this great industry may soon be partially revived, but at present time it is at a standstill.” (26th Biennial Report, Fish & Game Commission, State of California, 1921)
Just like the disappearing giant kelp forests off the Channel Islands that once flourished along Southern California, so too have vanished the abalone that relied upon kelp forests for food and habitat. Since 1997 abalone fishing has been restricted off southern California shores. Currently, seaweed farming on the west coast of the US is almost non-existent, but more than a dozen kelp farms have been created on the east coast in recent years from Maine to Rhode Island. In August of 2018, a bill was passed advancing kelp farming championed by a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island (https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/senate-approves-bipartisan-whitehouse-amendment-to-encourage-kelp-farming)
Asia has historically been the center of seaweed cultivation and consumption with over $250 million of seaweed products imported into the U.S. increasing yearly. Kelp can be made into pasta, seaweed snacks, sushi and etc. Seaweed is used for many things other than for culinary use. Currently a project proposed by Marine Bioenergy, Inc. with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), is conducting proof-of-concept testing for kelp farming off of Catalina Island using drone submarines for production of kelp biofuels, bioplastics and other compounds, rather than the plant itself being used just for food.
In 2017 the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Catalina Sea Ranch $450,000 to launch this new offshore aquaculture industry, farming kelp for human and animal consumption. The ranch is the first U.S. aquaculture farm permitted in federal waters and in California the first major kelp project since 1921. There is a growing market for seaweed, which is used in a wide range of products, other than food and bio-fuel, such as cosmetics, skincare, medicines, fertilizers, feedstocks for animals, mushroom production and as a water conservation soil amendment, as well as for various other industrial purposes.
GreenWave is an organization pioneering the concept of 3D farming - production of kelp and high-value shellfish along a vertical column producing more than one “crop” on the same sized footprint. The seaweed and mussels grow on floating ropes, on the ropes hang baskets filled with scallops and oysters. The crops grown are organic and require no fertilizers, freshwater, or antibiotics, which makes 3D ocean farming, one of the most sustainable forms of food production. GreenWave intends to create clusters of kelp-and-shellfish farms utilizing the entire seawater’s columns, strategically located near seafood transportation and consumption hubs. The 3D ocean farming model is designed to use the ocean’s space efficiently by growing crops that occupy the entire vertical water column.
The first west coast kelp farmer to belong to GreenWave’s farming network are Daniel and Antoinette Marquez, they currently harvest seaweed from the wild, and have since 2015 taken over a 25 acre open-sea plot’s lease and state permit from the previous owner pending the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to transfer the lease and permit into his name so that he can start commercial production. Through GreenWave, kelp farmers receive training, education, aid with permits from pro bono lawyers and two years of consulting help, free kelp seeds and a commitment from GreenWave’s customers to buy up to 80% of their fresh seaweed harvests, which include institutional and corporate customers like Yale University and Google.
As a 4th-generation Santa Barbaran local, Daniel Marquez states there used to be a naturally occurring kelp forest that ran along the west coast “the size of the 101 freeway... I want to see that system come back to life,”. The kelp forest off Santa Barbara disappeared because of unusually warm ocean temperatures, accompanied by severe el nino winter storms that uprooted much of the giant kelp and washed it ashore. The Marquez’s plan to farm seaweed as well as make beauty products created by Antoinette (certified Thalasso therapist,) and sold through their store, Ama SeaBeauty located in downtown Santa Barbara at 506 State Street.. Ama SeaBeauty’s line of products utilize hand harvested seaweed extracts and fresh dried sea vegetables. Ama Beauty’s unique longevity strategy for management and regulation of cellular activity and dermal function through the use of marine ingredients, clears longevity pathways, activates cellular defenses and improves the body’s energy systems. Ama SeaBeauty claims that their products visibly improve the skin’s structure, evens out the skin’s tone and reinforces the skins barrier functions. Cell propagation, protein synthesis and DNA repair mechanisms are supported by home-crafted marine environments that you can create with Ama SeaBeauty Thalasso therapy products. https://www.amaseabeauty.com.
Can kelp farms save California’s coast?
Giant kelp, known as “the Sequoias of the sea,” absorb up to five times the amount of carbon as land-based plants. Seaweeds are also fast growing, often growing at rates more than 30 times those of land-based plants. Kelp draws in such a large quantity of carbon dioxide that it de-acidifies the seawater, providing an ideal environment for shell growth. Carbon dioxide is taken out of the water in much the same manner that a land-based plant takes CO2 out of the air and just like land-based plants the carbon that kelp contains, is essentially carbon taken out of circulation which cannot be returned to the atmosphere. Through carbon sequestration, kelp farms are able to capture and store CO2 for the long term, similar to the way trees are able to pull CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it into plant growth. Kelp farms, kelp forest restoration and conservation projects potentially could have financial value in renewable energy carbon markets for quantifiable carbon credits as well as generating state revenue through increasing kelp farming off California’s coastline where giant kelp forests once existed.
Oxygen depletion creates dead zones where schools of fish suffocate, are a major global crisis and locally the main perpetrator is nitrogen runoff coming from farms, factories and cities along California’s coastline. Kelp farms and kelp forests sequester this nitrogen runoff as well as enable the capture of these valuable resources in the form of kelp harvested for use as fertilizer, animal feed and etc. Farming giant seaweed not only provides a habitat, it also feeds many fish and shellfish, but more importantly it can fix climate change. Kelp farms can rebuild natural reef systems, by using native and restorative species of kelp, which once protected coastal communities from the violent wave action of el nino storms, enhances our coastline’s resilience to climate-related weather events. One of the many devastating side effects of climate change are that the oceans are absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, which makes the seawater more and more acidic. Ocean acidification (OA), lowers the pH level of the ocean’s seawater, making it more difficult for sea animals like shrimp, oysters and abalone to form their shells. Kelp forests de-acidify seawater, thus making it easier for shelled animals to grow and are key to shellfish production. Kelp forests draw CO2 out of the ocean waters (thereby allowing the seawater to absorb more CO2 from the atmosphere) helping fight climate change.
As all of the Earth’s oceans become more acidic, it may become more difficult to stop OA on a global scale, but a recent report by the California State University (CSU) has found some evidence for local-scale mitigation of CO2: “Underwater plants like kelp and seagrass may help marine life cope with less-hospitable ocean water...kelp and seagrass do have the capacity to locally increase the pH of seawater...the plants provide a sort of low-acid refuge for species like oysters, abalone, crab and fish that hang out in the kelp forest.” Kelp forests and kelp farms provide many other benefits, including reducing coastal erosion as well as providing a home for various kinds of marine life.
Agar is a major component of kelp, which not only provides seaweed with it’s texture, but can be easily extracted and powderised. The name “agar” or “agar-agar” originated in south-east Asia and may have been picked up by the Dutch from their “open ports” in 17th-century Japan, which eventually spread to other Dutch East Indies bases. Agar was discovered by accident in Japan by a mountain innkeeper, who left a container of extracted seaweed outside which repeatedly froze overnight and thawed during the day removing the impurities with each freezing. The most valued agar, kanten is still made by this process today, making a quality product which has a soft gelatinous texture that appeals to many Japanese palates. In Japan kanten has become so popular that there are restaurants which serve nothing but kanten prepared in a plethora of different recipes for the Japanese foodie.
Food-grade agar is now considered a commodity and may be bought relatively inexpensively. The choice of using agars, carrageenans or alginates as a binder or emulsifier is really a matter of a food technologists’ preferences or the choice of ingredient may often be simply a matter of the proximity or historical preference to a particular resource. This is why alginates are used in ice-cream manufactured in one country, but carrageenans are used in ice cream made in another country, which may be purely national preference. For example agar was in short supply due to blockades during World War II, therefore a number of food processors in Europe and North America switched to using carrageenan because it was not as available as agar or alginates.
The solution to combating climate change lies in rebuilding the ocean’s kelp forest habitat infrastructure through restorative hatcheries and kelp farming. Similar to U.S. efforts through Marine Bioenergy, Inc. to research kelps potential as a biofuel, the UK government has backed a project called SeaGas (the largest seaweed farm in the UK, with the kelp being used to assess the viability seaweed in bioenergy production. In addition organizations like GreenWave support the growth of kelp farming and coastal kelp restoration projects are the grassroots beginning of combating OA.
OA not only harms marine life, but the economic consequences are felt with the loss of California's fisheries in recent years, displacing many fishermen. OA may also affect tourism and recreation, a major part of California's coastal communities economies. Entreprenuers and corporations with vision and deep pockets can make industrial scale mid-ocean kelp farming a reality. The need for a state carbon credit which is quantified through inclusion into the renewable energy portfolio standards market, would provide an incentive for increasing kelp production, the practice of removing carbon captured by the kelp would transform the kelp farming model to one of a sustainable profit generator. Even without a carbon credit market for kelp production, the opportunity to supply huge volumes of high-quality seafood, seaweed food products, agar, fertilizer, and many other products, all the while making substantial impacts on climate change, would represent an added incentive for future investment in kelp farming along California’s coastline.
