Developing a nascent agriculture industry: Lessons learned with sugar kelp

Abstract

First paragraph: Seaweed is developing into a nascent agricultural industry in the United States. It has long been a staple in Asian and other diets, used in a variety of food dishes because of its taste and nutritional benefits that could rank it among the superfoods (Cherry et al., 2019). Although sugar kelp (Sacchar­rina lattisima) is native to Connecticut’s coast (Redmond et al., 2014), its use as a food product in Connecticut and in other parts of the U.S. is limited because there is a need for post-harvest and marketing infrastructure (Venolia et al., 2020; Yarish et al., 2017; Yarish et al., 1998). The Cooperative Extension System and Sea Grant pro­grams are frequently asked to help develop new agricultural products, methods, and market strate­gies. Connecticut Sea Grant Extension is develop­ing the nascent sugar kelp industry, and this com­mentary outlines the lessons learned. . . .