Seaweed Kelp Farming

                                                                                         Seaweed/Kelp Farming

Do you know the kelp is planted in fall and harvested in Spring? The labour of stretching lines and building the floating arrays is done in fall, and that will support thousands of kilograms of kelp by spring.

Normally, kelp farmers will use anchor mooring system for seaweed cultivation when the sea-depth is up to 15m. Rectangular networks of buoys and partially submerged lines will be anchored by the anchors. Assembly the ropes, floats, chains and anchors according to your farm design. Farmers do much of work by using their small seiner, but they contract a larger boat to deploy the anchors, which must land on precisely the right muddy sea floor to keep the system under tension.

Anchor lines: Anchor lines are generally a combination of heavy chain, mooring rope, linking the mooring anchor on the seabed. The mooring lines require annual cleaning from fouling material and replacing every 2-3 years. Failure to maintain the mooring lines will result in line breakages and loss of gear. Stingray anchor is one kind of high performance anchor with super high holding power, now it is very commonly used in marine, aquaculture, shellfish and seaweed mooring projects. Open link chain and shackles are required hot dipped galvanized surface to enhance its corrosion resistance to the seawater.

Growing lines: Both polyester and nylon rope are employed for growing lines. Both materials are strong and synthetic but differ in many ways; nylon is stronger and more flexible and has a higher stretch resistance. However, nylon’s strength is compromised when wet, causing it to sag while polyester retains its strength when wet. However, polyester has low stretch properties. Both nylon and polyester growing lines should have a lifespan of at least 4 years.