{"id":63968,"date":"2023-01-26T13:58:20","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T18:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=63968"},"modified":"2023-01-26T13:58:27","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T18:58:27","slug":"in-maine-seaweed-farming-helps-save-jobs-and-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/in-maine-seaweed-farming-helps-save-jobs-and-the-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"In Maine, Seaweed Farming Helps Save Jobs and the Planet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fast-growing\u00a0kelp<\/a>\u00a0can help\u00a0mitigate the impact of climate change<\/a> by removing carbon and nitrogen from the water. And compared with\u00a0land plants and animal meats, kelp is loaded with digestive and nutritional benefits. Yet 95% of edible seaweed is imported \u2013 something Briana Warner, CEO of Atlantic Sea Farms<\/a> is on a mission to change.\u00a0Briana\u00a0is partnering with Maine lobster farmers to grow and harvest kelp in their offseason, which helps diversify their income.\u00a0Kelp farming “uses the exact same equipment as lobstering does,” plus lobster farmers already have a “massive skill set” on the sea, she says. Watch the video to see how line-grown kelp is\u00a0harvested and turned into delicious salads and cubes for smoothies.\u00a0Ocean foods like seaweed and kelp are predicted to be the hottest superfoods of 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more:<\/strong> A Seaweed Farmer Talks Kelp, 2023’s Hottest Superfood<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\r\n\t\tRead Full Transcript<\/i><\/span><\/a>\r\n\t\t
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PIX:\tShots of the ocean\/lighthouse and town\/Fish Market; Briana and Trevor walking down boardwalk to boat; preparing to sail.<\/p>\n

Trevor MacDonald:\tReally just grab the tag in and pull it through.<\/p>\n

Briana:\tHow can we continue to keep Maine exactly like it is? The way to do that is by keeping people on the water and keeping people invested in the things that they love to do. BEAT, Beat<\/p>\n

PIX:\tTrevor and Briana sailing. Lobster fishermen working.<\/p>\n

Briana:\tKelp grown here help fishing communities adapt to climate change by also mitigating some of its effects.<\/p>\n

PIX:\t\t\tBriana fishing kelp out of the boat.<\/p>\n

L\/T: \tBriana Warner \u2013 CEO \u2013 Atlantic Sea Farms<\/p>\n

Briana:\tWe are so dependent on the lobster fishery. All the other fisheries are gone for the most part. And this lobster industry, while it's doing well, is terrifyingly volatile. The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of oceans in the world. We have a perfect temperature here, right now, for lobster to thrive. And just a few more degrees in the water, that is no longer going to be the case. <\/p>\n

PIX:\tShots of the coast.<\/p>\n

TEXT:\tBriana is a development economist by training.<\/p>\n

TEXT:\tIn 2014, she began working at the Island Institute which supports Maine\u2019s coastal communities.<\/p>\n

PIX:\tTrevor driving boat with him and Briana; seaweed ropes on water.<\/p>\n

L\/T:\tTrevor McDonald<\/p>\n

Trevor:\tWhen I was a kid, we used to go out 5-6 days at a time, my father and I. Just part of life, yeah. I never thought twice about it. I love it.<\/p>\n

Briana:\tWe were kind of looking into the different types of aquaculture that we could get fishermen into, oysters and mussels. At the time, seaweed was becoming more and more in consumers' diets, through sushi, through seaweed salads, through the seaweed snacks.<\/p>\n

PIX:\t\t\tBoat dragging in kelp line; Trevor dragging kelp line; kelp in water.<\/p>\n

TEXT:\tAt the time, 98% of the seaweed eaten in the U.S. was imported. <\/p>\n

Briana: \tIt became very clear to us that kelp was a tremendous opportunity for fishermen. It's grown in the winter, which is counter-seasonal to lobster. It uses the exact same equipment as lobstering does.<\/p>\n

PIX:\t\t\tFishermen dragging kelp in their boats.<\/p>\n

Fisherman SOT:\tYeah, the kelp knives!<\/p>\n

Briana:\tIn addition, kelp can also help mitigate some of the effects of climate change by removing carbon and nitrogen from the water.<\/p>\n

PIX:\tExterior shots of Briana\u2019s house in early morning. Briana packing car, driving to ocean.<\/p>\n

Briana:\tMy plan when I was a kid was not necessarily to be in kelp, or seaweed in general. I grew up in central Pennsylvania, which had long been known for its lumber and natural resource-based economies. Most of the industry had long left the place, and it was a pretty depressed place. And it's really informed the way that I have seen the world. <\/p>\n

PIX:\t\t\tKelp in water.<\/p>\n

TEXT:\tIn 2018, Briana became head of the Island Institute\u2019s Ocean Approved project.<\/p>\n

TEXT:\t\t\tIt was the country\u2019s first commercial kelp farm.<\/p>\n

Briana:\tOcean Approved needed to go on to the next step for the marketing and branding and better kelp farming. They had just harvested about 30,000 pounds of kelp. <\/p>\n

PIX:\tKelp in water; boat dragging kelp line.<\/p>\n

TEXT:\tBriana changed Ocean Approved's name to Atlantic Sea Farms.<\/p>\n

TEXT:\tShe began to bring in lobstermen to grow the kelp.<\/p>\n

Briana:\tThe lobster fishermen, they're incredibly competent on the water, and they have all the equipment they need to farm aquaculture. Our promise to them always has been, we'll give you free seed, because we have to grow all of our seed in house. Kelp doesn\u2019t just\u2014you don't just put out lines and kelp just grows on it. And then we have a buyback guarantee for every single blade of kelp that they grow. Here we are three years later, and this year we're working with 27 partner farmers, most of whom are fishermen. <\/p>\n

PIX:\t\t\tTrevor pulling up kelp line.<\/p>\n

TEXT:\tAtlantic Sea Farms sold its products mostly to restaurants.<\/p>\n

TEXT:\tThen Covid hit.<\/p>\n

PIX:\tProduct jars in Briana\u2019s warehouse.<\/p>\n

Briana:\tAfter Covid, we did a pivot into retail. When I say pivot, I mean a Hail Mary, because that's really what it felt like, because suddenly, not only did we not have those customers, but we had 450,000 pounds of kelp that we had to harvest in three months, and all the payments for that kelp, and all the ways to process it. <\/p>\n

PIX:\tBriana pulling cartload of kelp through warehouse; sampling kelp.<\/p>\n

Sue SOT:\tHow much does this weigh?<\/p>\n

Briana SOT:\tAbout 1,000 pounds. And this just came off a farm this morning. And this is our harvest by the people who harvest the kelp in two. I don\u2019t have a knife on me\u2026I got it. And you can just eat it right off\u2014well, we\u2019ll check out the farms, too. You can eat it right off the farm.<\/p>\n

PIX:\tWorkers packing kelp.<\/p>\n

Briana:\tWe did it. We'd get on these retailer calls and act like we're totally fine, like, \u201cOh, we don't really need this business.\u201d And we had some incredible support from retailers that was beyond my imagination.<\/p>\n

TEXT:\tIn 2022, Atlantic Sea Farms harvested nearly 1 million pounds of kelp. <\/p>\n

PIX:\t\t\tBriana and Matt in packing and recipe testing room.<\/p>\n

Briana:\tKelp is now very much being seen as not only climate friendly, but also incredibly nutrient dense and different. If we say nothing about its climate benefits, nothing about its nutrition, it still just tastes good.<\/p>\n

Briana SOT:\tMatt is doing a lot of our recipe innovation. So Matt, what kind of new things are we working on?<\/p>\n

L\/T:\tMatt Haight<\/p>\n

Matt SOT:\tSome vegan fish sauce. So I\u2019m currently fermenting some of our fresh kelp with a couple of different blanched mushrooms, and then some ginger and onions, and then let it go for a little bit; and then blend in some miso and tamari to keep it gluten free, and hopefully tasting delicious.<\/p>\n

Briana:\tOur whole mission is focused on getting more fishermen in the water. But the way to do that is to drive demand, and the way to drive demand is to make everything taste outstanding.<\/p>\n

Briana:\tSo when we're selling to wonderful chefs, we're not talking about our mission. We're talking about, \u201cHey, this is really good to wrap around fish, it keeps the juices in\u201d or \u201cSprinkle a little bit of this on your ramen\u201d or \u201cPut this in your pesto.\u201d <\/p>\n

PIX:\tBriana in the small boat, waving to fishermen, riding away. Kelp in water.<\/p>\n

Briana:\tKelp is not a silver bullet for climate change. I think right now people are looking for silver bullets. It's all well and good, but we need to change our habits. And what kelp does is it helps people make better choices about what's on their plate.<\/p>\n<\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this video, Briana Warner of Atlantic Sea Farms shows how fishing communities can help mitigate climate change by harvesting seaweed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":63712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[21507,20056,19687],"class_list":["post-63968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entrepreneur-videos","tag-climate-change-mitigation","tag-sustainability","tag-women-entrepreneurship"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIn Maine, Seaweed Farming Helps Save Jobs and the Planet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this video, Briana Warner of Atlantic Sea Farms shows how fishing communities can help mitigate climate change by harvesting seaweed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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