Last Friday, I had a very informative chat with Dr Sanderson,...

Last Friday, I had a very informative chat with Dr Sanderson, the Marine Biologist who is in charge of the Seaweed trials at Tassal. He said they hope to be testing results from the trials around October- November this year. (I asked if he would consider sending me a sample, and he said he'll keep me in mind.)

I think this is great news, as previously thought that the trials would take years, so evidently they are a lot further along the path than I thought.

Whilst I'm personally excited at the prospect of Tassal marketing seaweed into a growing market, I think their main focus is utilising the native seaweed to absorb excess nitrogen emanating from the salmon pens. This should go a long way to reassuring the local concerns about the environmental impact of Salmon farming, and demonstrate that Tassal takes its commitment to environmental management seriously.

Dr Sanderson really knows his stuff and I really appreciated him taking some of his valuable time to talk to me. He also mentioned other aspects of aquatic "permaculture" they are considering. I'm all for diversification!