The first harvest of seaweed cultivated in the mussel farming areas of the Vigo estuary will reach the market in spring. Eighty years after Afonso Ozores Saavedra built and installed the province’s first mussel raft in Arousa, Vigo native Sergio Garc\u00eda<\/strong>, leading HQ Seaweed<\/strong>, will market 18 tons of edible seaweed grown in the Cangas and Redondela areas. This is an experimental project aimed at producing the native macroalga kombu<\/strong> or sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima)<\/strong> in mussel raft farming zones.<\/p><\/p>\n\n This week, the system was tested in preparation for seeding in the Vigo estuary. Unlike the floating reef-like structures that shape the iconic image of the world\u2019s leading mussel-producing region, these plantations use a buoy-and-rope system. The cultivation platforms follow a\u00a0long-line<\/em><\/strong> model\u2014an inline rope system of their own design. \u201cIt has surface buoys and ropes where the seedlings are placed underwater. It will be our sea garden, and we\u2019ll care for it over six months until harvest in spring,\u201d explains Sergio Garc\u00eda as he conducts preliminary tests in A Illa. \u201cWe\u2019re excited. This project marks a milestone in the diversification of Galicia\u2019s aquaculture sector, opening new business opportunities in the seaweed market, which is rapidly growing worldwide,\u201d the entrepreneur highlights. Both the system and the raw material come from the R\u00edas Baixas, so the seaweed will carry a designation of origin and will be processed at the company\u2019s headquarters in the port of Vigo.<\/p><\/p>\n\n They have chosen the kombu species, \u201cbecause it is in high demand by the Japanese for broths and ramen.\u201d \u201cIt is already present along our coasts, but it doesn\u2019t reproduce naturally in large quantities, which makes it unviable for harvesting,\u201d explains Sergio Garc\u00eda. It is a brown seaweed, sometimes green or reddish, also known as sea belt due to its shape and length.<\/p>\n\n It is ideal for recipes like dashi, which is a Japanese broth, but also works well as a side, in stews, and sauces. \u201cLately, there has been a high demand for this variety. It is well known for its nutritional properties, and its growing demand in the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical sectors is making its cultivation a sustainable economic alternative,\u201d he adds.
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\nThis young entrepreneur also highlights \u201cthe potential environmental benefit, as the species acts as a biological filter, improving water quality and helping to mitigate the eutrophication of the Vigo estuary.\u201d
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\nHQ Seaweed is a pioneering company in this cultivation system in Spain, launching after obtaining authorization from the Conseller\u00eda do Mar to grow it in the Cangas farming zone and Redondela B, both within the Vigo estuary. \u201cThis is the beginning of a strong relationship between cultivated seaweed and Galicia, and our goal is to expand the project to many more plots in the coming years,\u201d the founder adds.
\n<\/p>\n\n The plan has great economic potential \u201cand also reinforces Galicia\u2019s commitment to sustainability and innovation in the aquaculture sector.\u201d \u201cWe are proud to be the first to carry out this initiative in the Vigo estuary and we\u2019re grateful to the Conseller\u00eda do Mar for trusting in our vision,\u201d Garc\u00eda explains. The location is strategic in terms of all quality parameters, and there is high anticipation. \u201cWe are the southernmost producer in Europe, which will allow us to achieve greater productivity. The project has sparked genuine excitement across the continent since it was announced,\u201d says the Vigo-based entrepreneur.<\/p>\n\n HQ Seaweed has been harvesting other types of wild seaweed in the R\u00edas Baixas since 2016, such as wakame, sea spaghetti, kombu, and codium. They are worldwide distributors of edible seaweed in dehydrated, salted, frozen, and fresh wild forms. They export about fifty tons in bulk annually across Europe and have just opened new markets with their brand Capit\u00e1n Alga<\/strong> in the United Kingdom and Germany.<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n\n The company\u2019s edible seaweed cultivation will create new jobs, says Sergio Garc\u00eda. Initially, three positions for cultivation, harvesting, and processing tasks. Additionally, foreign capital has come in \u201cfrom an international company because the launch of our project has generated great excitement.\u201d \u201cWe are very excited and proud because many years of work and effort have gone into making this project a reality,\u201d he notes. A few months ago they obtained the occupancy license, \u201cbut it has also been a time during which we have gained a lot of knowledge, and we are especially happy that the company operates thanks to Galician seaweed and that we can provide jobs to local people while promoting a local resource.\u201d<\/p>\n\n The investment amounts to two million euros to launch the cultivation and keep it in production for the next five years. There will be about nine tons per farming zone of this native macroalga. The installation in Redondela is located inside the San Sim\u00f3n inlet, an area of calm waters where other species such as seagrass thrive, supporting the breeding of cuttlefish and cephalopods.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HQ Seaweed cultivates kombu on its own buoy platform with ropes. The first harvest of seaweed cultivated in the mussel farming areas of the Vigo estuary will reach the market in spring. Eighty years after Afonso Ozores Saavedra built and installed the province’s first mussel raft in Arousa, Vigo native Sergio Garc\u00eda, leading HQ Seaweed, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAn investment of two million euros and the creation of new jobs<\/h2>\n\n