The sustainable use of seaweed as a natural marine resource could benefit the health of people and of the planet. As a core principle, seaweed sustainability is particularly credible for three main reasons.
1. Seaweed requires no land
2. Seaweed requires no fertiliser
3. Seaweed requires no freshwater
This is contrary to land plants and animals and some of the key contributors to their negative impact on the wider environment through unsustainable resource use, climate change and habitat destruction.
Seaweed sustainability can also be attributed to the rate of growth. Some seaweed species can grow up to two feet every day, and are known as the fastest growing plants on earth! At Seaweed & Co. our seaweed is sustainability wild-harvested. This is due to the methods and specialist vessels used, which cut only the top of the plants and allows the seaweed to regrow before any re-harvest, and without negative impacts on the wider ecosystem.
We source and supply several species, with our core species being Hebridean Ascophyllum nodosum. This species and supply is a highly scalable and harvested from the Scottish Outer Hebrides under licence from the Crown Estate. The factory in the Outer Hebrides work closely with SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) and SNH (Scottish Natural Heritage) to ensure that the harvesting of seaweed is sustainable and environmentally friendly.
