The Cascadia Seaweed Corporation and First Nation owned Nuu-cha-nulth Seafood are revolutionizing the plant based food industry by becoming the worlds largest kelp & seaweed based farming & harvesting company. Their latest deal, based off the coast of Vancouver Island is worth an estimated 6 billion, and reflects a different approach to the plant based food economy, by tapping into a form of aqua culture that not only meets the needs of human diets, but is healthy for the planet and oceans in a rapidly changing climate.
The group is currently moving towards two test sites in the traditional Nuu-cha-nulth territory one off the shores of Tzartus Island and the other off the shores off Seddall Island northwest of Bamfield. The two test sites will be each a hectacre wide, and include a roped grid that goes down about three meters (or 9 feet). Seaweed is seeded by extending spools of kelp seed to hang freely.
Cascadia Seaweed president Mike Williamson.says that those waters like most of Cascadias coastlines are ideal for kelp farming and hosts most than 600 natural species of seaweed. In addition, these kelp fields help provide natural filtration for water, as well as increased places for wildlife to swim and hide in non-exposed water. The forests will emulate natural kelp forests, and the company will only continue to grow native plant species.
Ultimately, Cascadia Seawood will look to cultivate 100 hectacres of coastal ocean, with a net benefit of around 90 tons of seaweed and kelp to process and distribute in Port Aberni BC.
