Sustainable Harvesting

We’ve designed our vessels to operate in very shallow waters. Professional harvesters cut and gather fresh growing Ascophyllum nodosum in a sustainable manner, leaving at least 10cm of the seaweed stem attached to the rocks, allowing it to re-grow in four or five years. These harvesting methods ensure that this wonderful resource continues to grow naturally and be available to men, animals and land.

One of the richest seaweeds harvested for its beneficial effects is Ascophyllum nodosum. It is a large, brown alga in the class phaeophyceae. It is also known as Norwegian Kelp, Knotted Kelp, knotted wrack or egg wrack. It grows only in the tidal zones of the North Atlantic coasts. Ascophyllum nodosum forms a single bladder centrally in long, flattened strap-like fronds. The fronds are olive-brown in color and somewhat compressed but without a mid-rib. They can reach 2m in length and are attached by a holdfast to rocks and boulders. Many fronds grow from the base and the plant generally regenerates new fronds from the base when one of the larger fronds is damaged. It reproduces in spring and it may take four to five years before becoming fertile.