Seaweed in the Mysterious East, Asia!

It’s no secret that seaweed has been used as human food for thousands of years across Asia. What is astonishing though is that cultivation of it only started in 1940, near the coastal areas! Even more surprising, however, is the fact that only eight Asian nations were responsible for 99% of the total seaweed output.

This is due to the fact that Korea, Japan, and China decided back in the 1950s that modern seaweed cultivation was their road to success.

This led to exponential growth over the past decades, unfortunately leaving the world’s other 150 countries with coasts on the sideline just watching.

In the land of sunshine, yachts, and loads of rum! The Caribbean!

The Caribbean is known for its amazing seas, Jack Sparrow, and most importantly for their hundreds of algae species. These algae are known by many different names such as Sea Moss, Irish Moss, and even Kate Moss (once spotted on a catwalk!).

Sea moss has been regarded highly by the people of the Caribbean, usually for its ability to boost the immune system, digestive healing, as well as it’s sexual performance enhancement and fertility supportive properties.

Sea Moss is also traditionally used to make formula for the little ones (yummy!). However, it’s important to know that this algae was in fact wildly harvested for generations and it wasn’t until the 1980’s that local farmers got together over a cup of coffee and decided to regulate the production and the harvest.

“this algae was in fact wildly harvested for generations”

In the Cradle of Civilization. Seaweed Cultivation in Africa!

In the faraway coastlines of Tanzania and Zanzibar, seaweed cultivation has proven itself once again as a lifeline, this time to the magnificent coastal women of Zanzibar. Since the shores have become over-harvested for fish by large shipping vessels, sea moss cultivation has aided these ladies in putting food on their family’s table, which in our book is a huge deal!

Since interesting facts is the name of the game, also worth noting is that during 2016-2017, women were the ones responsible for 80% of the total seaweed production, amounting to a total of 412 tons! (Wonder Woman better go look for a new job, because these ladies are crushing it). Seaweed from South Africa has also been farmed and used commercially as feedstock for phycocolloid production.