Seaweed is an asset, not a nuisance

All Long Islanders are familiar with seaweed as something to wade through or step around on our way into the ocean. But seaweed isn't something that should be ignored or avoided; it's a powerful asset to our environment and to our communities.

With Earth Day approaching on Wednesday, seaweed should be recognized for its powerful environmental benefits, both in the water and in our soil. When grown in waterways, seaweed improves water quality and promotes the health of coastal ecosystems by absorbing pollutants, research shows. A study from our partners at The Gobler Laboratory, a Stony Brook University research facility, shows that seaweed extracts can be used as a soil additive to boost plant growth and soil health.

Beyond its environmental uses, we've also seen how seaweed has brought our community together and promoted ingenuity. We've helped connect disparate branches of the industry, from government entities to commercial fishermen to student researchers. We've supported these innovators from various sectors, and seen the spools of kelp seed we purchased for our partners transformed into gin, soap and works of art.

As the executive director of Lazy Point Farms, a nonprofit on Long Island, my work has focused on a single objective: reducing barriers so that more people can grow seaweed in New York waterways. That has meant investing not in aspirational future infrastructure, but in the unglamorous, early-stage tools required to make cultivation possible.

To that end, Lazy Point Farms has directly supported cultivation and nursery infrastructure for multiple municipalities and organizations, including the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, the Town of Hempstead and the Town of Huntington, as well as nonprofit organizations in New York City. We also support existing and prospective commercial growers with spools of kelp seed, growing equipment, greenhouses and pilot-scale systems intended to lower the threshold for new growers to participate.

Despite seaweed's benefits, New York still has only a small number of active commercial seaweed growers and just a single commercial hatchery. If people cannot access permits, equipment or seed, the industry will never reach its true potential. Without the cooperation and support of our neighbors and local government officials, the seaweed industry will remain inaccessible to most New Yorkers.

Not enough New Yorkers understand seaweed's potential. Our industry has struggled to expand, and those within it have prioritized funding over accessibility. The pursuit of grant funding has captured the attention of industry leaders, encouraging the construction of new infrastructure — sometimes duplicative of what already exists — rather than supporting new and existing growers. When grant pursuit becomes the organizing logic, it diverts focus from the main issue: increasing accessibility to permits and waterways.

We shouldn't overlook seaweed, but instead see it as a powerful opportunity. Realizing that opportunity will require solutions that address the accessibility problem, communication and coherence among industry leaders, and a collective willingness to build on our progress rather than continually starting over. This Earth Day, an organized effort from our neighbors and our officials could help New York reap the environmental benefits and support local innovators for many years to come.

This guest essay reflects the views of Wendy Moore, the executive director of Lazy Point Farms.