Canada. Fisheries Service. Industrial
Development Service. PROJECT REPORT
SOME NOTES ON THE MARINE PLANTS
INDUSTRY IN CANAD
by
W.E. Snaith, Constance I. MacFarlane and H.D. Johnston
for
Industrial Development Branch,
.
Fisheries Service,
Department of Fisheries and Forestry, Ottawa
November 1969
SOME NOTES ON THE MARINE PLANTS
INDUSTRY IN CANADA
by
W.E. Snaith,
Industrial Development Branch, Fisheries Service,
Department of Fisheries and Forestry, Ottawa.
Constance I. MacFarlane,
Nova Scotia Research Foundation,
Halifax, N.S.
and
H.D. Johnston,
Industrial Development Branch, Fisheries Service,
Department of Fisheries and Forestry,
Hal ifax, N .S.
This was a project carried out by the Industrial Development Branch,
Fisheries Service, Department of Fisheries and Forestry, Ottawa.
i
SOME NOTES ON
lHE
MARINE
PLAN1S INDUSTRY IN
CANADA
DEFINITION
Marine plants include all benthic and detached marine
algae, all marine flowering plants and includes all
brown algae such as fucoids (rock weeds) and laminarians
(kelps) and red algae including Chondrus, Gigartina and
Furcellaria, green algae, blue- green algae and
phytoplankton.
INTRODUCTION
A - Atlantic Coast - Canada
Historical Review - While Irish Moss was harvested on a limited scale
in Nova Scotia in the 1920s and 1930s, the developmental history of commercial operations is mainly attributed to the loss by the United States
of its traditional supplies owing to World War II.
evidence of
c~mmercial
The first statistical
harvesting is for 1941 and is based on the efforts
of small boat fishermen in Prince Edward Island to supplement their
incomes from the sale of Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus) to U. S. processors of the colloidal e,xtract "Carrageenan" -- a product finding
extensive use in the foods and other industries.
From that time to the
present, there has been a steady growth in the annual harvest, primarily
in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, and to a lesser extent in
New Brunswick.
While there is a large variety of marine plant species to be
found in Atlantic waters today' s commercial operations are based
~
2 -
principally on the following species:
Red Seaweeds:
1.
Chondrus crispus - Irish Moss
2.
Furcellaria fasti.giata - an algae
3.
Gigartina stellata - Irish Moss
4.
Rhodymenia palmata
Brown Seaweeds: 5.
6.
~
dulse
Ascophyllum nociosum - a {ucoici
Laminaria spp.':' - kelp
The most important of these, from a commercial point of view,
is Chondrus crispus, which makes up approximately 85% of the current
production of all seaweeds by weight and 96% by value.
nodosum, also
Ascophyllum
commercially important,does not represent high
earnings to fishermen.
It does, however,
support an extraction plant
in Nova Scotia of considerable capital investment yielding significant
annual gross sales.
The processing of Chondrus crispus and Furcellaria in the
Atlantic region is restric ted to drying, cleaning and packaging of the
product for export to the U. S. A. and European markets, where the
extraction of Carrageenan is undertaken.
B - British Columbia
Until recently, the only serious attempt to harvest and process
seaweeds in British Columbia was an operation by the Canada Kelp
Company Limited, which produced small quantities of dried seaweed
from 1946 to 1948.
More recently, there has been a revival of interest
with six companies in the province licensed to harvest seaweeds, but to
date, there has been no serious commercial harvesting done.
':c
Laminaria spp. meaning "several species".
•
- 3 -
The chief collodial products obtained from seaweeds are
Carrageenan, furcellaran, agar and algin.
Although carrageenan is
in much demand, the abundant seaweeds of the West Coast are not sources
of this product.
of algin.
These kelps, however, are potentially important sources
Statistic s for the annual tonnage of algin produced in the
U. S. A. and Canada are not available, but in 1954, it was estimated that
the U. S. A. produced over 2, 000, 000 lb.
The main sources of algin in
B. C. waters are the giant floating kelps, Macrocystis integrifolia and
Nereocystis luetkeana.
The major uses of the marine colloids, carrageenan, agar, and
algin, extracted from marine plants are in the foods, pharmaceutical
and other industrial processes.
There is a lesser market for their use
as soil conditioners and horticultural fertilizers.
For the latter, the
liquified form of seaweeds based on hydrolysis of Ascophyllum is
popular.
Alginates, aside from their use in the foods industry, enter
into the rubber, paint, textiles, paper and other non-food industries.
Some weeds, notably Rhodymenia palmata (dulse) are dried for direct
human consumption, while othe rs are dried and ground as meal for
1
use as supplements in the feeding of live stock, poultry and mink.
RESOURCE
DISTRIBUTION:
PROCESSING AND MARKETING
A - Atlantic Provinces
At the present time, seaweeds are commercially harvested
only in Nova Scotia, P. E. 1. and to a lesser extent in New Brunswick.
No commercial operations are currently undertaken in Quebec or
- 4 -
Newfoundland.
In the case of Newfoundland, however, two companies
have carried out surveys of available resources with a view to the
possibility of establishing operations in that province.
For the most part in the producing provinces, areas of supply
are highly localized at the present.
Surveys have been conducted to
determine the availability of beds in many areas and such surveys
continue to be carried out with a view to finding new sources of supply.
The following companies are involved in the raw material
procurement of seaweeds in the three Maritime Provinces; and of these,
five, namely, MARINE COLLOIDS, KRAFT FOODS, GENU PRODUC TS,
SCOTIA MARINE PRODUCTS AND P. E. 1. SEAWEEDS are subsidiaries
of extraction companies in the U. S. A. and Denmark.
a)
Marine Colloids Ltd. (Marine Colloids, Inc., Rockland, Maine)
i) Miminegash, P. E. I.
ii)
Toney River, Pictou County, Nova Scotia
iii) Shag Harbour, Shelburne County, Nova Scotia
b) Genu Products Ltd. (Copenhagen Pectin, Denmark)
i) Miminegash, . P. E. 1.
ii)
Pubnico, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia
c) Kraft Foods, Yarmouth (Kraft Foods, Portland, Maine)
i)
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Othe r drying operations are carried on as follows:
d)
P. E. 1. Seaweeds (Litex, Copenhagen, Denmark) have established
drying operations at North Lake, P. E. 1., for the preparation of
Furcellaria as ,a source of furcelleran (Danish Agar) to be extracted
at its 'plant in Denmark,
- 5 -
e) A. D. Cunningham & Son Ltd., Pubnico and Shelburne, Nova Scotia,
is an independent drier of Irish Moss for the domestic market and
export markets in Ehgland, France, Japan, etc.
This company also
bleaches Irish Moss for domestic and export markets.
f)
Bonda Meal & Oil, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
Ascophyllum meal for
animal food stuff is produced as well as the bleaching of Irish Moss
for export and domestic markets.
g)
Tignish Co-operative, Tignish, P. E. I. is an independent drier of
Irish Moss for the export market.
h) Scotia Marine Products Ltd., Wood Harbour, Shelburne County,
Nova Scotia.
(A subsidiary of Kelso of San Diego, California) dries
Ascophyllum nodosum for use in the extraction of sodium alginate and
some Laminaria spp.
This is the only company in Canada
which
carries out extraction of colloids from seaweeds.
i)
A number of small independent operators in several areas in the Atlantic
Provinces dry Rhodymenia palmata (dulse) for domestic and export markets.
Chondrus crispus (Irish Moss) - is harvested almost entirely in Nova
,
•
Scotia and P. E. 1. and some in New Brunswick.
Furcellaria - is harvested in
i) Eastern P. E. 1. from Cable Head to Point Prim.
ii)
Pictou and Antigonish Counties in Nova Scotia (Northumberland Strait).
Gigartina stellata - is harvested along the Fundy Shore s of Digby and
Annapolis Counties in Nova Scotia.
Ascophyllum nodosum - is harvested in the Fundy approaches and the Fundy
Shores of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
- 6 Rhodymenia palmata - is harvested along the Bay of Fundy Shores of
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Laminaria spp. - is harvested in south-western Nova Scotia.
B - British Columbia
While some six commercial companies are said to have taken
out licences to harvest seaweeds in British Columbia, no commercial
sales were reported in 1968.
This harvesting was for experimental
purposes only.
It is reported that there are no carrageenan or agar producing
seaweed beds in quantities suitable for commercial harvesting.
On the
other hand, it has been estimated that the kelps could sus t ain a harvest
of about 1 million wet tons annually.
Such a harvest would mean an equivalent
output of 100, 000 tons of meal or 20, 000 tons of alginate annually.
The Canada Kelp Company Ltd. has located a plant on Masset
Island, approximately three miles south of Masset on Graham Island, and
is experimenting with harvesting and drying facilities.
The plant expects
to be in commercial production shortly.
Another company, "Intertidal Industries Ltd.", is also working
toward achieving commerc ial·production levels in the near future.
ECOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND EFFECTS OF
HARVESTING
1.
Environmental Factors
TECHNIQUES
Affe~ting
Growth
A nUlnber of environmental factors of a physical, chemical, dynamic and biological nature have a bearing on the rates and density of
growth and the recovery of aquatic plant beds following harvesting. Among these
the following are listed: ocean currents, ice, temperature, salinity, coastal
tupugraphy, type of 1:lubI:lLraLe, nutrients, light penetration and desi c cation.
r
- 7 -
Considerable experimental work has been done and continues
to be carried out toward the development of satisfactory harvesting
techniques and to determine their immediate and long range effects
on the various species.
The following notes indicate some considerations,
which are of particular significance in the harvesting of commercial
spec ies.
2.
Harve sting
a) Atlantic - Chondrus and Gigartina - pe rennial
i)
Raking - by hand from substratum
a)
Damage to shorter shoots, which could be harvested
late r.
b)
Damage to holdfast - recovery takes three to four years.
if other seaweeds become established, the time of reestablishment of Chondrus is not predictable.
ii)
iii)
Gathering on beaches - storm tossed
Cutting - investigations show that the method is undesirable
because:
a)
Plants become bushy; this is not undesirable botanically,
however, it does make raking more difficult.
b)
1
Increases the possibility of attachment of Mytilus edulis,
which renders Chondrus beds useless as a commercial
crop.
Also, it offers a desirable soft surface for grazing
gastropods, which can be very devastating grazers of this
seaweed.
iv)
In areas where depths up to 40 feet are involved, hand rakes
are not usable and rakes are dragged on the bottom and hoisted
into the boat with hauling gear.
- 8 -
Furcellaria fastigiata - a perennial plant
i)
Raking damages the plant by taking whole clumps from the
substratum (grows to depths of 30-40 feet).
For conserva-
tion purposes, it is recommended that raking should not be
allowed in beds containing this species, alone or in mixture
with Chondrus.
ii)
Washed up on beaches.
Rhodymenia (dulse) is harvested from rocks.
Laminaria spp.
i)
ii)
Cut with long handled "Scotch sickles".
Dragging is also used.
It is wasteful of the plant and de-
struc tive of the substratum and, in the past, has been
carried out in the drumlin shoals of south-western Nova
Scotia.
Young plants are damaged with the effect of re-
ducing the following harvest as Laminaria are replaced by
other plants.
iii)
Before commercial harvesting is initiated, careful ecological
studies should be made, particularly to determine the
number of plants which may safely be removed from a bed.
Ascophyllum
i)
This plant is a perennial, the fruiting season of which is
confined to a few weeks in the spring and summer.
ii)
Denuded areas are filled by other plants, which may dominate
the area for up to ten years.
iii)
There should be no harve st by rakes resulting in the removal of the holdfasts.
- 9 -
iv)
The plants should be cut leaving a minimum of 10 to 12 inches
for recropping.
conservation).
(Five inches is sufficient for botanical
Growth is apical.
The older portions,
nearer the base, are less vigorous and require a much
l<;mger time to produce new branches as fewer new apical
cells are formed in the older regions.
Drying
Nearl y all Irish Mosf? is dried using mechanical dehydrators.
Many small producers dry seaweed unde:r p,atural conditions, particularly
dulse.
Extraction
i
A~
indicated before, there is only one extraction plant in Canada,
that of Scotia Marine Products Ltd., (subsidiary of Kelco of San Diego,
California), which extracts alginate from Ascophyllum and a small amount
of Lamina r ia s pp.
Extr"tction from Irish Moss is all undertaken in the U. S. A. or
in Europe at the present time.
Need to Regulate Harvesting
There is an ever-increasing worldwide demand for marine
plants for use both as food for direct human consumption and as a source
of the phycocolloidal extracts - carrageenan, algins and, agars.
While
seaweeds range widely in coastal areas, the number of commercially
- 10 -
exploitable species and the resources represented by the main commercially exploitable areas for such species are hard pressed to meet the
demand.
Consequently, a good deal of exploratory survey and investi-
gation for new beds in all areas is lleeded to meet both current levels
and forsceuble expansion in
wor~d
requirements.
The increasing pace of industrial requirements for marine
plants in Canada, as elsewhere, suggests that the future of the seaweeds
industry depends to a considerable extent on the adoption of three
important measures:
a)
That every effort be made to ensure the continued conservation of present populations with a view to e ·stablishing
conditions for
m~ximum
sustainable physical yields.
b) Furthering of the quest for new populations and their
careful future commercial exploitations under the conditions in a).
c) Studies into the economic prospects for and physical requirements in the cultivation of seaweedf1.
A part of the
fruiting season may need to be avoided for harvesting.
CONCLUSION
r
The expanding world tnterest in the resources of the sea
and the development and use of products derived t~erefrom is nowhere
more clearly exhibited than in the exploratory work directed to locating
unexploited concentrations of marine plants and the research effort
put into development of new products and extracts
for both'commercial and scientific application.
~rom
being
this resource
- 11 -
Canada as a nation having
~
particularly extensive coastline
subject to a variety of climatic and oc;::eanographic conditions is in an
unusually favourable position for
the exploitation of the various species
of marine plants, both fixed or free-floating, found in coastal waters.
Provided harvesting of this delicate but naturally renewable resource
is carefully manage d and that techniques will be developed for controlled
culture of valuable spec ies, continuing and inc reasing benefits can be
expected to accrue to both labour and capital invested in the industry.
APPENDIX
MARITIME PRQVINCES
IRISH MOSS HARVESTED 1943 to 1968.
-
YEAR
NOVA SCOTIA
VALUE
QUANTITY
$000
'000 Ibe.
NEW BRUNSWICK
VALUE
QUANTITY
'000 Ibe.
$000
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
VALUE
QUANTITY
'000 Ibe.
$000
MARITIMES
QUANTITY VALUE
'000 1bs
$000
1943
1,486
30.0
1,486
30.0
1944
2,275
46.3
2,275
46.3
1945
3,222
53.6
2,200
24.3
5,422
77.9
1946
4,069
67.4
10,008
124.3
14,077
191. 7.
1947
16,075
10Q.5
5,677
63.7
21, 752
164.2
1948
2, 761
23.2
2,921
36.0
5,682
59.2
1949
6,125
61.6
4,885
58.4
11,010
120.0
1950
6,667
67.1
4,678
55.8
11,345
122.9
1951
8,562
102.8
5,584
69.6
14,146
172.4
1952
9,927
118.1
8,801
109.7
18, 728
227.8
1953
11,872
148.6
10,589
126.7
22,535
278.6
1954
14,483
178.3
11,528
140.9
26,011
319.2
1955
17,236
210.7
11,383
142.5
28,6.19
353.2
1956
15,052
179.5
9,249
113.0
24,301
292.5
1957
15,274
192.0
10,659
142.4
25,933
334.4
1958
17,634
216.0
14,951
183.0
32,585
399.0
1959
14,654
179.6
9
.1
11,822
142.6
26,485
322.3
1960
15,432
211.0
9
.1
12,493
161.6
27,934
372.7
1961
20,608
459.7
307
4.6
18,546
307.9
40,524
772.2
1962
25,281
481.3
874
13.7
17,341
288.2
43,496
783.2
1963
26,187
465.7
109
1.5
10,559
162.2
36,855
629.4
73
3.3
MARITIME PROVINCES
IRISH MOSS HARVESTED 1943 to 1968
i
YEAR
•
•
NOVA SCOTIA
QUANTITY
VALUE
'000 1bs.
$000
NEW BRUNSWICK
VALUE
QUANTITY
'000 1bs.
$000
1964
20,651
360.0
1965
22,153
345.4
1966
.25,600
556.8
949
1967
30,257
1060.9
1968*
32.,149
1081. 5
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
'QUANTITY
VALUE
'000 1be.
$000
MARITIMES
QUANTITY VALUE
'000 1bs. $000
7,124
109.0
28,207
475.0
17,138
257.5
39,291
602.9
13.8
24,464
401. 2
51,013
971.8
1143
24.6
47,927
1215.9
79,327
2301.4
1244
27.2
53~656
1167.5
87,049
2276.2
432
6.0
*pre1iminary figures
MARITIME PROVINCES
MARINE SgAWEImS HARVESTED BY PROVINCE
YEAR
"
«
NOVA SCOTIA
QUANTITY VALUE
'000 1bs. $000 .
NEW BRUNSWICK
VALUE
QUANTITY
'000 1bs. $000
1962 Lo 1!}6H
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
VALUE
QUANTITY
'000 1bs.
$000
MAR (TIMES
QUANTITY VALUE
'000 1bs. $000
1960
29,140
. 374.7
1961
40,879
800.2
1962
33,029
517.0
946
39.5
17,341
288.2
51,316
844.7
1963
38,512
499.0
186
30.5
10,559
163.0
49,257
692.5
1964
35,588
398.0
522
44.0
7,124
109.0
43,234
551.0
1965
37,636
385.2
68
22.3
17, 139
257.6
54,843
665.1
1966
37,873
589.8
1,042
61.3
26, 708
506.1
65,623 1,157.2
1967
47,538 1,105.5
1,199
48. 7
47,978
1,219.9
96, 715 2,374.1
1968*
46, 749 1,119.2
1,347
73.7
53,658
1,1.67.5
101, 754 2,360.4
* figures are preliminary