Color: Light yellow
Green powder
Raw for fertilizer
Crop: Latest
Origin: Viet Nam
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Names
alga nodosa, alga nudosa, algue noueuse, an fheamainn bhuí, asco, ascophylle, ascophylle noueuse, ascophylle noueux, egg wrack, favach, feamainn bhuí, fheamuinn bhuide bhuilgíneach, goémon noir, knobbed wrack, Knotentang, Knotswier, knotted kelp, knotted wrack, Norwegian kelp, robert, rockweed, sea whistle, yellow tang
Phylum Classification
Ochrophyta
Geographic Distribution
Distribution is confined to the North Atlantic basin, found in the Arctic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Belt Sea, Northern Europe, Gulf of Maine, North Sea, and Northwest Atlantic. Its northern limits are northern Norway and the White Sea in the east, and Baffin Island in the west. Southern distributions extend to northern Portugal and New Jersey.
Uses
Ascophyllum nodosum is very effective at accumulating nutrients and minerals from the surrounding seawater, and this is what makes them a valuable resource for human enterprise.
This species is harvested for use in items such as:
This species is harvested for use in items such as:
- Food
- fertilizer
- soil conditioners
- animal feed
- skin and hair care products
- cleaners, degreasers
- equestrian products
- nutritional supplements
Ascophyllum nodosum is also popular in cosmetology and thalassotherapy. Seaweed Industry Association has identified more than 200 product types from over 100 companies which include Ascophyllum nodosum as an ingredient.
Harvesting
Ascophyllum nodosum is harvested commercially in Canada, the United States, Scotland, France, Norway, Iceland and Ireland.
Harvesting Techniques
Various harvesting practices are used for Ascophyllum nodosum, however the species is predominantly hand-harvested using sickles, knives and various cutting and raking tools. Harvesting is done both from the shore and by boat. It can be cut from rocks while the plants are suspended using small boats and cutting rakes to minimize the disturbance of the plants. One recommendation is to cut at a height of 15 to 25 centimeters above the holdfast so that a portion of the plant remains attached to the rock for further growth.
Mechanical means for harvesting Ascophyllum nodosum are being used in some areas of Iceland and Norway. At one time, floating material was encircled by a seine net and loaded by hand or conveyor belt on a vessel. A different mechanical method involved use of a "cutter rake" consisting of a rake with widely spaced tines and triangular cutting edges between the tines. These rakes permitted harvesting and loading in one operation.
Ecosystem
Ascophyllum nodosum is an indicator of good water quality, as it tends to decline in abundance with increasing nutrient pollution. It provides food, shelter, and spawning habitat for a variety of animals, including small crustaceans, juvenile mussels, snails, whelks, periwinkles, barnacles, limpets, sponges, ascidians, and fish such as rock gunnel and juvenile pollock. Other mobile species commonly found include amphipods, isopods and crabs. These in turn attract otters and feeding seabirds and shorebirds including eiders, black ducks, mallards, loons, cormorants, sandpipers, and plovers. The brown seaweeds Fucus vesiculosus and Fucus serratus commonly occur alongsideAscophyllum while the red algae Mastocarpus stellatus and Chondrus crispus may form underneath.
