Seaweed Harvesting

All our seaweed is sustainably sourced in Scotland. We utilise two primary harvesting methods: “Wild Harvest” and “Aquaculture”.

Wild seaweed harvesting on the coast is strictly controlled under quota, ensuring that only a small percentage of the total available wild stock can be harvested in a season. The Crown Estate, Natural England, and SEPA manage this process in the same way as wild fish stocks. Our suppliers, who hand harvest the seaweed are selective about the species they gather, allowing for species recovery and enabling multiple harvests from the same individual in a single season.

Agricultural seaweed is grown from spores provided by native hatcheries within a certain range of where the seaweed will be grown. This is to prevent the introduction of nonnative seaweed into the waters, like a postcode system. It is not possible, for example, to grow seaweed from the west coast of Scotland on the east coast, even if it is the same seaweed variety.

There are ongoing studies that explore the effects of seaweed cultivation. However, the practices used by our endorsed suppliers have no known negative impact on the marine biodiversity of our coastlines. In fact, there are several positive effects, including carbon sequestration during growth and the provision of habitats and protection for native marine life.