Kelp Aquaculture for the East End

Kelp aquaculture is a viable emerging industry in the US and could be perfectly suited to the local waters of the east end of Long Island. Our native kelp species - Saccharina Latissima or “Sugar Kelp”, is considered one of the finest culinary seaweeds, and could be cultivated for food, as well as for use in fertilizer, animal feed, product additive, and biofuel stock. As a bioremediation agent, kelp sequesters CO2 and Nitrogen from the water column, and can even mitigate storm surge and erosion. Farming this kelp species would create new aquatic habitat for fish and a nursery for shellfish, in the process giving fishermen and baymen a new industry in the offseason (the kelp growing season is from November through May, opposite traditional fishing season.)

Farming kelp is a centuries-old tradition in parts of Asia, and already a mature industry in New England, examples can be seen in the revolutionary “3-D Ocean Farming” system developed by Bren Smith and Greenwave, his non-profit organization.

Cornell Cooperative Extension has conducted a feasibility pilot program for farming kelp in the Peconic Estuary, and more can be found about this project here.