August 1, 2013 — As fishermen seek to make up for cuts in quotas for cod and other fish in New England, a new sustainability challenge is emerging along the coast of Maine — in the form of a humble sea grass called rockweed.
As the Globe recently reported, the annual seaweed harvest has doubled since 2007 to 15 million pounds. Nearly all of it is rockweed, which clings to rocks in the intertidal zone. It can be harvested, then chopped up for use in fertilizer, animal feed, cosmetics, and nutritional supplements.