In China’s Shandong Province, women workers attach red seaweed seedlings to ropes that will be used to reseed seaweed farms off the coast. China has been harvesting seaweed for two millennia and remains the goliath of seaweed supply. The nation has used the fast-growing macro-algae in several ways, from an ingredient in cooking to the production of iodine and other medicines to emulsifiers, fertilizers, textiles, and livestock feeds. The versatile sea lettuce doesn’t need fertilizer or pesticides and in optimal conditions can grow 6 inches a day. Some researchers think it might one day be the feedstock for carbon-neutral biofuels. Shandong, where offshore farms average between 13 and 26 square miles, is the center of industrial seaweed production in China. Larger companies can afford to hang the long strands on giant rotary drying racks that spin in the wind, producing a product free of sand, sticks, and stones. Air-dried, slightly salted seaweed is a popular snack in China, fetching a higher price than seaweed that is rinsed, boiled, and chilled.
