FAQ
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We make all of our products from the unique, nutritious, and hardy brown seaweed species Ascophyllum nodosum.
Ascophyllum nodosum is the most researched seaweed for animal feeds and crop biostimulants.
By combining decades of independent scientific research with our decades of industry experience, we are able to bring you products that deliver results.
We work with our local partnered harvesters, most of whom we have been working with for decades.
We coordinate our activities closely with our harvesters, to ensure prompt pickup (right from the water using our own trucks with mounted cranes) and processing.
As fresh as fresh can be!
All of our seaweed is cut by our harvesters, picked up fresh from the cold ocean waters by us, and processed at our central Waldoboro ME facility.
Due to rockweed’s biology, the harvested fronds can survive for quite some time after being separated from the rest of the seaweed. Thanks to our prompt pickup and processing, the seaweed is still living with no decomposition or loss of quality when it goes into the dehydrator. Also, thanks to product demand, dried seaweed doesn’t stick around at our facility for long!
We dry our fresh-harvested Ascophyllum nodosum using a pellet-fired rotary drum dryer.
The drum itself reaches high temperatures, but evaporative cooling keeps the temperature of the seaweed in check during its rapid transport through the dryer.
These drying conditions are perfectly balanced to preserve the nutritional value of the seaweed while ensuring high food-safety standards.
People have harvested wild Ascophyllum nodosum for centuries. The modern harvest relies and specialized harvest boats. These boats are small maneuverable vessels with cutter pumps that trim the seaweed to a reliable height. This preserves the seaweed’s valuable ecosystem services and allows for rapid regrowth.
Check out this independent research supported by the Maine Sea Grant to learn more!
The same natural weathering processes that enrich sea water with mineral nutrients also introduces trace heavy metals into the environment. As seaweeds grow and accumulate mineral nutrients, they also take up some of these heavy metals. However, unless there is a local source of man-made heavy metal contamination (which we monitor for), these heavy metals don’t accumulate in seaweeds to a dangerous degree.
The only heavy metal that naturally accumulates in most seaweeds to a meaningful degree is arsenic, but the seaweed we harvest, Ascophyllum nodosum, converts almost all of the arsenic it absorbs into organic forms by binding them up in fats and sugars. This makes it easy for animals that eat the seaweed (including humans!) to pass the arsenic safely through their system without toxicity.
Seaweed is a very broad term that applies to all multicellular marine algae. Sometimes they are referred to as seaplants, because they have a lot in common with plants in terms of their ecological role. Kelp refers specifically to a subgroup of brown seaweeds; sometimes this subgroup is considered to contain only seaweeds of the order Laminariales, and sometimes this subgroup is considered to contain seaweeds from both the orders Laminariales and Fucales.
The seaweed we harvest, Ascophyllum nodosum, is in the order Fucales. When Ascophyllum nodosum is used in animal products, it’s usually considered a kelp. However, when Ascophyllum nodosum extracts are included in fertilizers and other plant products, the convention is to label the ingredient as seaweed.
You can contact us on our website, email us at sales@noamkelp.com, or call us toll-free at 1-888-662-5357.
You can also search our store locator to find local retailers for our SeaLife dried kelp meal.
We harvest and process seaweed year-round, and keep separate dedicated queues for pallet and truckload orders. Consequently, we have the flexibility to work with you to fulfill your order when you need it!
