Developing Our Taste for Macroalgae

Introduction

Seaweed may seem like a recent addition to our diets here in Maine, but seaweed has been used for food worldwide for centuries. Evidence shows that as early as 14,000 years ago, people living in modern-day Chile were eating seaweed as a regular part of their diets. Additional archaeological evidence from ancient Europe indicates that seaweed was regularly consumed by people ranging from Spain to Scotland as long as 8,000 years ago. Thousands of years later, early written records documenting the use of seaweed in people’s diets were emerging around the world, including in China (600 B.C.E), Japan (600 C.E), the United Kingdom (500 C.E), and Iceland (900 C.E).

Image credit: Teresa Mouga

From the earliest documentation of seaweed use thousands of years ago right up through the 1950s, wild harvest was the primary method for obtaining seaweed in every part of the world. Even today as seaweed aquaculture is taking off, wild harvest continues to be important and practiced in many places. In the United States and Northern Europe, the wild harvest fishery is particularly relevant and accounts for a substantial amount of seaweed landings. Here in Maine, a groundbreaking commercial seaweed company, Maine Coast Sea Vegetables, started wild harvesting seaweed in 1971 and continues to operate today with 100% wild seaweed.

In addition to seaweeds wild harvested for food, Maine has a traditional wild harvest fishery for rockweed (Ascophyllum nodosum), which goes into globally relevant non-food products like organic fertilizers, soil amendments, biostimulants, and health supplements. This commercial fishery also dates to the 1970s, with many founding businesses still active today. In the most recently reported statistics from 2023, wild seaweed still makes up 96 percent of seaweed landings by weight in the state. All wild seaweed harvest in Maine is carefully regulated to protect wild seaweed populations.

Nutritional value of seaweed

It is no surprise that so many people throughout world history have harvested and eaten seaweed when we consider the many health benefits seaweed provides. Seaweed is essentially nature’s multivitamin! Apart from being delicious and easy to access in many coastal communities, seaweed is also a source of numerous important dietary elements including protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and minerals. Some species also contain Omega-3 fatty acids. In addition, seaweed contains many key nutrients including Vitamins C, B1, B2, B3, B9, B12, A, and E as well as minerals including calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium, and trace minerals like zinc and iodine. Seaweeds contain bioactive compounds not found in land plants – like bioactive pigments (marine carotenoids) that are powerful antioxidants. Due to their unique nutritional profiles, seaweeds have played an important role in food systems around the world, particularly in East Asian nations including China, Japan, and South Korea where seaweed is a staple food in many diets.

So regardless of which coastline you look to, the same story rings true: people eat and use seaweed. The use of seaweed for food has emerged independently in coastal communities around the world, which primarily relied on wild harvest for their seaweed consumption. That is until the 20th century when demand for highly nutritious, inexpensive food met with advances in scientific and technological agriculture; this combination allowed for the development and rapid expansion of commercial seaweed aquaculture beginning in the mid-to-late 1900s.

Image credit: Sobuj et al.