Rory Macphee Gyllyngvase Falmouth 2009

Orkey Seaweed Company harvesting seaweeds for
liquid fertilizers


 

SEAWEED PROCESSING BY-PRODUCTS:
APPLICATION TO YOUNG TREES

Background
Some seaweed products and constituents are known
to stimulate plant growth through several potential
mechanisms (e.g. micronutrients, auxins, etc.).
Previous plant growth studies in Norway1 have
indicated some growth promoting properties using
these materials. Growth trials using a seaweed
processing by-product were conducted in Washington
apple orchards, in 1997 and 1998. The study was
managed by SugarEarth Arts, and funded by the
CWC (as a NIST MEP affiliate).  Full Article Here

For centuries seaweed has been used as a fertilizer;
George Owen of Henllys writing in the 16th century referring
to drift weed in South Wales:
 

"This kind of ore they often gather and lay on great heapes, where it heteth and rotteth, and will have a strong and loathsome smell; when being so rotten
 they cast on the land, as they do their muck, and thereof springeth good corn, especially barley ...
After spring-tydes or great rigs of the sea, they fetch
it in sacks on horse backes, and carie the same three, four, or five miles, and cast it on the lande, which doth very much better the ground for corn and grass."  

Read, Clare Sewell (1849). "On the Farming of South Wales:
Prize Report". Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England (John Murray) 10: 142–143. 
Downloadable Google Books.




Commercial Success of ECLAIR Programme        
AGRE-0022: Development of enhanced quality
liquid fertilisers based on naturally occuring
seaweeds

AGRE-0022: Development of enhanced quality liquid
fertilisers based on naturally occuring seaweeds.
Click for full report

An interesting paper produced by the FAO, on the manage-
ment of seaweeds in the District of Leon mentions the feeding
to cattle of the seaweed Palmaria palmata, called "bijin-saout",
or "cattle-weed" in Breton. "These seaweeds were widely used
 as feed for livestock. According to Dizerbo (1974), cows
roaming on Batz Island and Sein Island sought out this seaweed
to graze on. Sauvageau also observed this in 1920 and remarked that the inhabitants of Ouessant even created paths through the rocks so that their animals could reach the seaweed without the risk of breaking their legs. Palmaria is even used as food in the stables of Sein (Richard, 1958).

These practices are widespread on the Scottish island of Lewis (Hendrick, 1916), in Iceland and the Scandinavian countries.

During World War I, military authorities hoped to use dried seaweed to replace oats and fodder, then in scarce supply. Experiments showed that Fucus could indeed be used, just as
we add seaweed meal to livestock feed as a source of vegetable protein today. "

http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5820E/x5820e03.htm
Arzel, P., 1984 Traditional management of seaweeds in the
district of Leon. FAO Fish. Tech. Pap., (249):49 p.

Some resort beaches are regularly cleaned, either manually
or mechanically, resulting in the removal of driftweed. However, beach cleaning can have a very significant adverse impact on marine and coastal processes and biodiversity. The Blue Flag criteria states that "algae or other vegetation should be left to decay on the beach unless it constitutes a nuisance" and "Only if it becomes absolutely necessary the algae or other vegetation should be removed and consideration must then be given to disposing of it in an environmentally friendly way e.g. through composting or using it as fertiliser."

However with increased land run-off containing additional nutrients in some locations the enrichment of the coastal waters has
caused an increase in seaweed growth and an increase in the problem of rotting seaweed on the beaches and the relevant health hazards.   See article below on "Fumes from rotting seaweed on France's northern beaches could kill".

Pollution control

• Sewage can be treated with algae, reducing the need for greater amounts of toxic chemicals than are already used.
• Algae can be used to capture fertilizers in runoff from farms. When subsequently harvested, the enriched algae itself can be used as fertilizer.
• Algae bioreactors are used by some powerplants to reduce CO₂ emissions.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5820E/x5820e03.htm
 

Seaweed in Agriculture and Horticulture
by W.A. Stephenson, Faber & Faber, 1968
http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/seaweed.html

Seaweed and Its Use in Jersey Agriculture,
Brian J R Blench

Seaweed in Agriculture and Horticulture,
by W.A. Stephenson, Faber & Faber, 1968

"Production of Valuable Products from Microalgae: An Emerging Agroindustry" Arad, Shoshana; Spharim, Ishai (1998).
( Altman, Arie. Agricultural Biotechnology. Books in Soils, Plants, and the Environment. 61. CRC Press. p. 638. ISBN 0824794397, 9780824794392).

Holidaymakers have been told to keep away from beaches in northern France covered in seaweed after doctors gave warning
that it could give off lethal fumes when it rots.

A stretch of beach had to be closed after a horse rider lost consciousness as a result of the putrefying algae. His horse
was killed. Local residents have also been treated in hospital.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article
6740746.ece