MARINE PLANTS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST PROVINCES OF CANADA

Transcription

1 c DFO - Lbrary MPO - Bblotheque Canada [Dept. of] Fsheres. ndustral Development Servce PROJECT REPORT MARNE PLANTS OF THE ATLANTC COAST PROVNCES OF CANADA by H. Douglas Johnston Marne Plants Expermental Staton Mmnegash, P.E.. ndustral Development Servce Department of Fsheres of Canada November 1967 \

2 \\)\ MARNE PLANTS OF THE ATLANTC COAST PROVNCES OF CANADA by H. Douglas Johnston for ndustral Development Servce. Department of Fsheres of Canada Opnons expressed and conclusons reached by the author of ths report are not necessarly endorsed by the sponsors of'ths project.

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4 DEVELOPMENT OF THE SEAWEED NDUSTRY GENERAL - As rsh moss s by far the most mportant of the seaweeds harvested from a commercal standpont n the Atlantc coast provnces, most of ths report deals wth that partcular marne plant. t should be stressed, however, that the Federal Fsheres Staton at Mmnegash s concerned wth all aquatc plants and wll assst where possble n the development of the ndustry n all parts of Canada. The seaweeds presently beng utlzed are: Chondrus crspus (rsh moss), as mentoned, s the most promnent of the seaweeds found n the Atlantc coast provnces used commercally. ts extract s a stablzer of s.olds and s mostly used n food and pharmaceutcal products, for example, ce cream and toothpaste. As far back as 1941 rsh moss has been harvested for commercal reasons. The demand for ts extract (Carrageenn) has steadly ncreased and today the demand s greater than the supply. Ascophyllum nodosum s a rockweed harvested only on the south shore of Nova Scota. t s used as a source of algnate or can be dred and ground for anmal feed. Algnate s a stablzer of solds n much the same way as the extract from rsh moss, but of nferor qualty.

5 - 2 - Rhodymena palmata (Dulse) s harvested n Nova Scota and New Brunswck. Ths weed s sun dred and eaten n ts orgnal state. Furcellara fastgata. The extract from ths seaweed s very smlar to that of rsh moss extract. t s used as a stablzer of solds, but because of ts dark colour t s not as versatle as the rsh moss extract. LEASNG RESOURCES - To date Nova Scota s the only Atlantc Provnce to grant a lease on seaweed beds and these leases, beleve, are somewheren the neghborhood of ten years' duraton. One area under lease s for rsh moss, and the other s for harvestng Ascophyllum. t s my opnon that leasng of seaweed beds whch are exposed at low tde, as n the case of Ascophyllum, helps to conserve the res~urce. As for rsh moss, whch grows from low tde level out to approxmately the thrty-foot level, there s no danger (usng present harvestng technques) of not leavng a suffcent number of plants for regeneraton. Therefore, lttle s ganed, by leasng, from a conservatve standpont. HARVESTNG - Seventy-fve per cent of rsh moss s collected on the shore, tossed there by seasonal storms. The remander s gathered off the floor of the sea by the use of drag type rakes towed behnd lobster boats.

6 - 3 - Furcellara s strctly storm-tossed, as present rakng methods remove the holdfast along wth the plant. thus shuttng the door on regeneraton. Ascophyllum s presently cut by hand. One company s exper- mentng wth a mechancal harvester. Regulatons govern the amount of plant that can be cut to nsure conservaton. tde. Rhodymena palmata (Dulse) s hand pcked off the rocks at low DRYNG - Nearly all the rsh moss harvested s dred, usng mechancal dehydrators. The dryers used are chefly alfalfa dehydrators and work extremely well on rsh moss. Wthn a two-year perod fve commercal sze dryers have been establshed n Nova Scota and Prnce Edward sland. Another s under constructon and two more are n the plannng stages. Furcellara s also dred by ths method. The other seaweeds are sun dred. EXTRACTON - At present the only extracton plant n the Atlantc coast provnces, n fact n Canada, s a wholly owned subsdary of \ Kelco of Calforna, whch extracts algnate from Ascophyllum. Extracton plants from carrageenn from rsh moss are located only n the Unted States and Denmark. One Dansh concern s n the drawng board stage of establshng an extracton plant n Pr.ce Edward sland.

7 - 4 - GOVERNMENT DEVELOPNG PROGRAM FEDERAL-PROVNCAL COST SHARNG PROJECTS - All fve Atlantc coast provnces (Nova Scota, New Brunswck, Prnce Edward sland, Newfoundland and Quebec) have plans for partcpaton n cost sharng agreements for resource surveys. o MARNE PLANTS EXPERMENTAL STATON - The ndustral Development Servce of the Department of Fsheres of Canada establshed the staton at Mmnegash n order to assst generally n the development of the seaweed ndustry and to evaluate mechancal dryng of varous speces of marne plants. After one year of operaton, two commercal plants commenced mechancal dryng n the same area and we are now able to concentrate practcally full tme on our expermental program. tems of 'equpment we are now nstallng for evaluaton nclude: a washer, a stone separator, a screen for removng sand, a specfc gravty separator for removal of other weeds and a baggng machne. These all have to do wth upgradng the qualty of rsh moss. The experence ganed n handlng rsh moss wll no doubt be of value wth regard to other marne plants whch we antcpate ~ll be utlzed n the future. ATLANTC SEAWEED MEETNG - A meetng was held n Aprl of ths year wth representatves of federal and provncal governments',' scentsts, and representatves from varous seaweed companes from Canada, the Unted States and Europe.

8 - 5 - Ths provded the ndustry wth an opportunty to meet for the frst tme, dscuss mutual problems and lay a format for future research and development. Ths wll no doubt have far reachng effects on the future of ths rapdly expandng ndustry n the Atlantc coast provnces. STATSTCS GRAPH A - GRAPH B - GRAPH C to 1967 for the Atlantc coast provnces 1943 to 1967 for P.E & 1967 harvestng by the month n the Mmnegash area. CONCLUSON Marne plants are underutlzed today. However, the tme s fast approachng when much more of the world's foodstuffs wll come, from the sea. Wth ths n mnd, harvestng methods and technques must be developed that wll ensure conservaton of Canada's vast resources. We must also drect our efforts towards cultvaton of certan speces as s already beng done n other countres.

9 -6- (/) 0 z (/) ::> a:: 0 « Z :2 0 ft ~ 0 0 (/) w z r- w r- ::> z - «~ ::> CJ t r;,".d' GRAPH ~ " "A" R.. \ \. /'\ ) ', '\y" /. \V).. \ /..~ QUANTTY \,. \.1' \.r _ / \ \ /. / J. \. ',~, \ /. ", f \.) ~/' / f r o MARTMES RSH MOSS HARVESTED 1943 TO 1967 (1965 AND 1966 FGURES ARE PRELMNARY) (1967 FGURES ARE ESTMATES)

10 -7- f/) o z 19:" :::f/), 00:: L a..<c z ::j 17 <5 0 ' _0,_... = ::::!:o". zo ' --13 o,.. f/)z w -w t: :::> Z««> 5 9- GRAPH le" e.."! \! \ f / \! ', 1\ \! \ ", ; \' \, \"J \ ; /~'"",. J v ~" ~ '\ ;, '\. \1 '. \, \!, \ '\,,!. \! QUANTTY '\. \! ~! \ /J \,/'-./' '/ \. J " V f!,!, f! / PRNCE EDWARD SLAND RSH MOSS HARVESTED 1943 TO 1967 ( 1965 AND 1966 FGURES ARE PRELMNARY) (1967 FGURES ARE ESTMATES)

11 -8- C!l, GRAPH "c" L 5- o UJ Z o 4 -.J - -:E '.,.. \.! \ / \. / \. [...,. MMNEGASH AREA 82A RSH MOSS HARVESTED BY MONTH 1966 a 1967

12 - 9 - t Drag type rake for harvestng rsh moss.. Marne Plants Expermental Staton at Mmnegash, P.E..