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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/seaweed-farming-maine-climate-change-lobsters/>
"The landing dock of the Portland Fish Exchange is busy this afternoon, in a
way that almost reminds David Townsend of when there were still groundfish to
catch in Casco Bay, when this pier was piled with cod and haddock. That was
back when he captained his own boat and before he became operational manager at
the exchange — back before the fisheries collapsed and people started to learn
that the Gulf of Maine was warming faster than almost any other waters on
Earth.
Now, Mr. Townsend waves down to Justin Papkee, who has maneuvered his boat up
to the dock. Mr. Papkee is a lobsterman. But hours earlier, he and his crew
harvested thousands of pounds of sugar kelp, hauling the seaweed onto his boat
from the ropes where it had been growing, cutting off the leafy blades and
stuffing them into half-ton potato sacks. The back of Mr. Papkee’s boat sags
from the weight of it all.
“Let’s bring ’em up,” Mr. Townsend says, as the dock and boat crews start
attaching bags to a pulley system, readying the forklift and scale.
There is another boat behind Mr. Papkee’s, where Stewart Hunt is waiting his
turn to offload. Mr. Hunt owns a mooring company here. But he has incorporated
kelp farming into his business plan, and now he and his son, who came up from
New York to help with the harvest, stand next to their own white sacks full of
seaweed, some 9,000 pounds in all.
“We love the new business,” says Mr. Townsend. “This is the thing of the
future.”
Briana Warner smiles when she hears this. This is a new tune for the
dockworkers, who not long ago grumbled about how their lives had descended to
this, landing ocean weeds. But as the boats keep coming in, their enthusiasm
for her efforts has grown.
She ties off the huge white bundles as they come on to the dock, marking some
with an organic label, kelp flecks on her arms. She made herself take a shower
last night, even though she knew she would be right back here, smelling like
fish and seaweed again. It is a short harvest for kelp, and it’s busy. And it
is her company, Atlantic Sea Farms, that is buying all of it, part of an
ambitious effort to revamp not only Maine’s working waterfront, but also the
way the state is fighting, and adjusting to, climate change."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
