Foraged seaweed off the coast of Cayucos is the protein of the future
Story by Emily Basanese
Photography by Brandon Hurd
Growing along the coast of California is over 640 different species of an edible plant that contains more protein than a burger: seaweed. Surprising though it may be, seaweed is a nutrient dense food that’s not only abundant, but sustainable too. Those who think the waterborne vegetable is reserved for sushi haven’t met participants of the Central Coast’s annual Green Chef competition.
Armed with fresh ingredients at the February event, the chefs concocted plates like seaweed and chanterelle “crab-less” cakes, seaweed biscuits and gravy, and even ogo beignets with yuzu mayo. Singaporean Chef Alana Gillen, who owns meal delivery service Myndful Meals in San Luis Obispo, produced a snapper fish taco with a seaweed slaw. “Naturally, it fits into seafood-centric dishes, but kelp is common in many meat alternative recipes for adding a vegetarian flavor boost,” says Garrett Morris, Sichuan Kitchen Chef and co-host of the competition.
Along with Brandon Hurd, agroforestry expert and Founder of The Ecologist Cowboy, Garrett challenged participating local chefs to utilize seaweed to make a creative, sustainable and tasty dish. They launched the contest in an effort to inspire chefs to think outside the box using wild-gathered, locally sourced, and agroecological ingredients. This year, the secret ingredient was seaweed. “Sourcing seaweed is very efficient space-wise; compared to a traditional ag crop, it takes no space on land,” explains Brandon, who leads seaweed foraging tours. “There is no threat of soil erosion and it grows up to two feet a day.”
Not only does this protein powerhouse grow quickly, it also takes up no space on land, and doesn’t guzzle water like many land-grown crops. With California’s penchant for droughts, crops that don’t need additional water are more important than ever, he points out. “When you source seaweed, you are going with the natural flow of what the earth is providing.”
Seaweed can be sustainably sourced using a process called aquaculture, which involves breeding, raising and harvesting fish, shellfish and aquatic plants — it’s essentially farming in water. Farmers grow various types of seaweed, including dulse, bull kelp, ribbon kelp and sugar kelp. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reports 5,740 acres of public tidelands are leased for aquaculture. Between leased land and wild harvesting, companies like Kelpful in San Luis Obispo, PharmerSea in Santa Barbara and Monterey Bay Seaweeds up the coast are turning to the natural resources of the shoreline. One such venture is Harmony Coast Aquaculture Institute (HCAI). This Cayucos-based facility was once an abalone farm that closed in 2020. An ambitious project is currently in the works to turn that defunct facility into a practicum opportunity for students where they will grow seaweed.
HCAI’s goal is to reduce the environmental impact of seafood production while restoring the natural ecosystem along the coast. Seaweed farms absorb nutrients and carbon dioxide to grow. The farms can help improve water quality and buffer the effects of ocean acidification in surrounding areas. A significant portion of the HCAI facility will be dedicated to restoration aquaculture to help rebuild depleted populations of endangered abalone and other important marine species. The revitalization of the facility spells a path to sustainable protein sources and a potential boon for the Cayucos economy, as the largest land-based seawater aquaculture facility in the United States.
Seaweed is and has been bountiful along our coastline. However, it has been largely ignored as a protein source in plant-based meats that have instead leaned on the soybean industry and agricultural practices that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
So, let’s do a deep dive into the nutrition of seaweed. Kevin Johnson, a California Sea Grant Extension Specialist for Aquaculture at Cal Poly, has dedicated his career to researching and teaching aquaculture. He believes Americans need to consume more seafood. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends eating 26 pounds of seafood per year, but as Kevin explains, “the per capita average for the U.S. is 15 pounds of seafood consumed per person per year.” For reference, the average person in this country consumes each year 99 pounds of chicken, 57 pounds of beef and 51 pounds of pork.
But we’ve hit a ceiling on sourcing fish from the sea, all while the American population continues to grow. “We have not been able to capture more seafood from the ocean, partly due to regulations to prevent overharvest,” Kevin says. “Six hundred million pounds of seafood is consumed annually in California alone. We catch about 300 million pounds, so only half of what is eaten.”
Where does the rest come from? Largely Asia, meaning that seafood travels around the world; it’s a far cry from a sustainably sourced import. Furthermore, foreign-caught seafood often comes from countries with lax environmental regulations that allow for overfishing, enabling natural populations to be exploited into extinction. Overfishing leads to a whole host of other problems that include devastating damage to the ecosystem of our oceans, disruption of the food web and even acceleration of nitrogen release into the atmosphere. The USDA carefully prevents overfishing here in the U.S., so Americans are looking for new ways to recoup that deficit in their diets. “The only sustainable way to increase the amount of seafood to eat is to grow it,” Kevin argues.
And once sea farmers, like the upcoming generation at HCAI, grow it, there will be a need for chefs, consumers and retailers to normalize eating it. Plucked raw from the ocean, seaweed may look unnerving to the unfamiliar eye. But when prepared as a topping, ground in a sauce or otherwise infused in a dish, it takes on a palatable taste that’s just as manipulatable as any other protein source. “It has a savory, earthy, sea flavor with a seafood vibe, and it can add a great texture too, especially when roasted for a crunch,” Garrett shares, adding that it’s not as limited as meat. “It can be more versatile used in something like cookies.” He has experimented with seaweed in soups, salads and even crumbled on top of his homemade black sesame cookies.
Seaweed has long been popular in Japan, where a study found one-fifth of the meals consumed contain a form of edible seaweed. And why not? It’s low in calories while being high in protein and other vitamins. “Seaweed has high iodine levels, iron levels, omega-3s and vitamin B12,” Kevin says. Findings shared in Marine Drugs medical journal indicate seaweed’s mineral content is higher than land vegetables and the total amount of minerals present in some seaweed varieties can be nearly double that in spinach.
At the Green Chef competition, this nutritious ingredient made its way onto the plate in deliciously daring ways. As plans to revamp the Cayucos facility unfold, so too should our appetites for this sustainable food. Unlike harvesting cattle, pigs or chickens, foraging seaweed is very accessible to the everyday person. And with a wealth of the weed off our coast, Garrett suggests those with a little curiosity come see — and taste — for themselves. “Harvesting your own food,” he says. “There’s nothing more satisfying on a human level.”
