Botanical Names
For those of you of a botanical bent, following are the scientific names of some sea veggies:

RED SEA VEGGIES
Dulse - Palmaria palmata
Irish Moss - Chondrus crispus
Laver - Porphyra umbilicalis
Sushi Nori - Porphyra yezoensis

BROWN SEA VEGGIES
Alaria - Alaria esculenta
Arame - Eisenia bicyclis
Bladderwrack - Fucus vesiculosis
Hijiki - Hizikia fusiformis
Kelp, whole leaf - Laminaria longicruris
Kelp, milled - Laminaria digitata Kombu (Asian) - Laminaria japonica
Rockweed - Ascophyllum nodosum
Wakame - Undaria pinnifitada

GREEN SEA VEGGIES
Sea Lettuce - Ulva lactuca

Please see our online store for the ones we harvest and sell.

Where and How
Most of our sea vegetables grow and are sustainably hand harvested locally from downeast Maine across the Bay of Fundy to Nova Scotia. These areas of the Gulf of Maine are exceptionally clean and are considerable distances from the major rivers and population sources that might pose a threat to water purity. Experienced harvesters in small boats or on rocky beaches mindfully hand-gather the sea vegetables from their beds at low tide. They then carefully transport the sea veggies to drying facilities where they are either sun-dried or low temperature air-dried. They are graded for quality and then stored to await final packaging. The harvest is monitored for possible herbicide, pesticide, heavy metal, and bacteriological contamination, and the entire process conforms to OCIA organic certification rules and standards.

Why Organic
How can wild sea vegetables be "organic?" It's true that compared to land plants, we have little control over the growing conditions (growth environment) of our wild marine plants. But we do have choices about how, when, where, and how much we harvest as well as how the plants are transported, dried, stored and packaged. The Organic Standards developed by OCIA address all these areas where unacceptable practices may lead to resource depletion, product contamination or inferior quality. These standards give clear and uniform direction to all of us (more than 40 now) responsible for harvesting and handling these precious plants. We feel this results in a higher quality as well as a cleaner product, for you. Definitely worth the trouble!

Harvesting: ensures that the seaweed is harvested at sustainable levels, in particular that the bed or area being harvested remains healthy and productive (very much in our own best interest, of course!). Beds are inspected annually. Further, the handling and transporting equipment and procedures are such that they do not introduce contaminants to the product. See The Harvest for a map and slide show.

Processing: ensures that the drying and packing processes maintain the integrity and purity of the sea veggies (e.g., documenting lot numbers).

Testing: ensures product purity. We test regularly for microbiological presence, heavy metals, chemical contaminants (pesticides, etc.) and hydrocarbons (oil, gasoline, etc.). Because of the relatively pristine condition of the coastal waters in this region, contamination has never been a problem. However we do constantly monitor the product and keep a close watch on the health and well being of the coastal waters from which our seaweeds are harvested. Our products are certified by OCIA (Organic Crop Improvement Association International, Inc.). Note: Kelp granules and powder are certified by Quality Assurance International and the local Icelandic agency, TUN.

What about Pollution
Each year more people become concerned about the purity of our oceans and each year we receive more inquiries about the purity of our seaweed products. Fortunately, the northeastern end of the Gulf of Maine is still unindustrialized and relatively unpolluted. Nevertheless we continue to monitor possible chemical, heavy metal and bacteriological contaminants in our seaweeds, and we encourage other sea vegetable suppliers, particularly Asian ones, to do the same.

Chemicals: Each year we have all our seaweeds tested by the Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratories for 42 different chemical pollutants. These include PCB's, hydrocarbons (petroleum products), 34 different insecticides, and 9 different herbicides. No unusual traces of any compound covered by these test procedures have been detected in our seaweeds.

Heavy Metals: Each harvest season the University of Maine's Dept. of Food Science tests our seaweeds for the following heavy metals: lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium. We would like to report "no traces," but that is an unrealistic expectation as these metals occur worldwide both naturally (leached from bedrock) and as industrial waste. Although the test levels vary somewhat from year to year, the average is very low measured against the United Nations FAO/WHO codex of Tolerable Daily Intake Limits. Nor are there any upward trends in the test results over many years.

When assessing the presence of heavy metals in seaweed bear in mind two factors. First, these FAO/WHO Limits assume daily consumption and few people actually eat large amounts of seaweed daily. And second, it's not known to what extent these metals are bioavailable, if at all, during digestion. It is know that any heavy metals present in seaweed are strongly bonded with indigestible polysaccharides that pass through the body intact. Some studies indicate that seaweed may even help eliminate heavy metals already stored in the body!

Bacteria: We have regular microbiological testing at the University of Maine to make sure there are no harmful microorganisms occurring in the seaweed or occurring during the drying, storing or packaging process. All tests to date for coloform, E. coli, yeast and molds have shown no unusual microbial activity. We would be happy to supply you with copies of all past and present testing if you desire.

What about Sustainability
The most fundamental operating principle of this company is based on our understanding that these gifts from the sea come with the responsibility to maintain sustainable practices in harvesting, processing and merchandising...leaving more than we harvest, producing more than we consume, and giving back more than we take. All our sea vegetable harvesting in the Gulf of Maine is done using the simplest and most ancient technology - by hand. We monitor the kelp and alaria beds we harvest to insure that no more than a healthy amount of mature fronds (usually less than 50%) is taken. The Dulse and Laver beds are self-regulating; below a certain density it is not worth the harvester's time to work in an area, and the custom (which we encourage) is to move rapidly through the harvesting areas leaving adequate stock for regeneration. As we move into new harvests such as Sea Lettuce and Bladderwrack, we will apply these same techniques and principles.