Fosters.com interviews Redmond about Maine’s seaweed industry

Sarah Redmond, a marine extension associate with the Maine Sea Grant College Program at the University of Maine, spoke with Fosters.com for a report about Maine’s growing edible seaweed industry. Redmond said “there’s definitely a lot of potential” for the seaweed industry in Maine. “We’re not having rampant growth, but people are hearing about seaweed more and more. I think something big is happening, but we need more awareness for the industry to really take off,” she said. Redmond tracks the edible industry in Maine, which includes wild harvest and aquaculture seaweed, according to the article. She has been working for the past four years with those interested in growing seaweed in an aquaculture setting, and UMaine’s Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research is working to cultivate native species that can be transplanted to grow in controlled farms in the ocean, the article states. There are currently seven wild harvest seaweed companies and seven aquaculture seaweed companies in Maine, Redmond said.