8 Reasons Why the Kelp Revolution Should Be Taken Seriously
Kelp restoration + regenerative ocean farming have the power to be critical climate mitigation + resilience tools
There are a million and one reasons to find hope, inspiration, and stoke in the world of kelp. Here are a handful of reasons why kelp should be rightfully understood as a force in both mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis:
Kelp helps to sequester carbon
Considered the “Sequoia of the sea,” kelp can grow quicker (up to 2 feet in a single day!) and sequester up to 20 times more carbon dioxide per acre than land-based forests. When kelp removes carbon dioxide from the ocean, it also lowers the ocean’s acidity, making it easier for sea creatures to survive and thrive. As land-based forests- like the sub-arctic boreal forests and the Amazon Rainforest- become an increasingly unreliable form of carbon sequestration due to massive deforestation and wildfires, it makes sense to diversify sequestration efforts by prioritizing ocean-based forests, as well.
Kelp protects the coasts
Kelp buffers the impact of storms upon coastlines by reducing the speed and size of waves. As storms grow in frequency and intensity, kelp serves as a crucial physical barrier, preserving coastal ecosystems and protecting coastal communities. Kelp forest and coastal ecosystems restoration may, in fact, be more effective in protecting shorelines than costly and controversial seawalls, which redirect rather than dissipate wave energy.
Kelp supports ocean life
Kelp is a backbone for rich biodiversity; it’s home to sea otters, provides shelter to young gray whales, and is a primary food source for ocean grazers like abalone. Plus, it can be powerfully restorative to local ecosystems. Eyak Athabaskan ocean farmer Dune Lankard has been growing kelp in part so that the Alaskan herring population, which was devastated by an Exxon oil spill in 1989, will spawn in clean, healthy kelp forests rather than intertidal zones where oil is still lingering.
Kelp is nutritious
Kelp is rich in Vitamin K, folate, magnesium, iron, Vitamin A, and calcium. A study from the Wageningen University found that kelp farms totaling 180,000 square kilometers, about the size of Washington State, could provide enough protein for the entire world. Particularly as the climate crisis and related ecological crises- like droughts, extreme weather, and depleted soil- make it harder to grow food on land, shifting some food production to the sea will make food systems more resilient.
Kelp requires zero inputs to grow
Kelp doesn’t require any fertilizers, pesticides, freshwater, or arable land to grow and thrive. Therefore, kelp farming will remain a viable means of food production even as freshwater and arable land grow more scarce, and responsible kelp production shouldn’t have any unforeseen impacts on the local ecosystem. Plus, kelp farming has fewer costs than farming on land.
Kelp can support a robust 3D ocean farm
Polycultures are preferable to monocultures, and the ocean is no exception! Kelp farmers can utilize each depth level of their ocean plot to maximize production and restoration benefits, growing oysters, clams, scallops, and mussels alongside (or underneath) the kelp. Diversification reduces risks for the farmer and can have incredible ecosystem benefits; for instance, an acre of oysters can filter 140 million gallons of water an hour and remove 3000 pounds of nitrogen per year.
Kelp farming can create quality jobs
Particularly as fishery stocks plummet and it becomes harder to make a living from fishing, kelp farming allows communities to continue working and feeding their family from the sea. According to a study by the World Bank, a network of ocean farms equivalent to 5% of US waters could create 50 million new jobs. Groups like the Blue Wave Futures Collective are working hard to ensure that local Indigenous peoples, women, youth, and fishermen are central to building a new, regenerative economy through blue carbon jobs.
Kelp can be both fuel and feed
A lot of what typically makes biofuel production controversial, like using precious land and water resources to grow fuel instead of food, is a non-issue with kelp, which can be turned into bio-oil relatively easily through the process of thermochemical liquefaction.
While Asparagopsis taxiformis is technically a red algae, it deserves a shout-out, too; adding a small amount to cattle feed has the potential to reduce methane production from beef cattle by up to 98%!
How can you support the kelp revolution?
While kelp restoration and farming have the potential to be powerful climate mitigation and resilience tools, they will ironically become harder to implement the longer we wait to take bold climate action. Along the Northern California and Tasmania coasts, 95% of kelp has died off in recent years due to marine heatwaves and out-of-whack food chains. Kelp grows quickly, but their ecosystems are difficult to restore once they have been severely depleted. Therefore, a successful kelp revolution needs to be accompanied by immediate, widespread, and significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
To learn more, read the article A Native Perspective on Regenerative Ocean Farming by Dune Lankard, and the book Eat Like a Fish: My adventures as a fisherman turned restorative ocean farmer by Bren Smith. Listen to Kelp Farming, for the Climate, Parts I + II on the How to Save a Planet podcast. Check out the free course, Intro to Algae, that UC San Diego offers through Coursera, and explore GreenWave’s online platform for resources to start your own kelp farm or underwater garden. Consider donating or otherwise supporting organizations like GreenWave, Native Conservancy, or SeaTrees. If you live near the ocean, support policy that removes barriers to kelp farming. And, when you have the opportunity, help create demand for kelp by experimenting with kelp-based recipes in your kitchen!
