Category: Facts & findings

Is Seaweed Trawling Sustainable?

In the film Is Seaweed Trawling Sustainable the documents and references are numbered.

Here are the links and information to the reference numbers in the film.

No 1)

http://stopptt.com/924/

Our page on Netalgae.

The company is funded by the eu

This map shows the areas mechanically harvested on the Norwegian coast.

Netalgae has produced valuable reports on the industry in the major European countries involved.

Filieres_12p_UK

The Regulation of Seaweed Farming in the UK

Norwegian_seaweed_industry_WP12

CREMADES_J_(EN).pdf Spain

NETALGAE_WP1-2(bis).pdf France, Portugal

Net algae promotes itself as assisting communities harvesting algae from the sea – unfortunately this also includes large scale mechanical harvesting.

It also says that it can help the industry where it is affected by local government and environment issues.

Reading the above it sounds reasonable – but if you consider it is based on the premise that mechanical seaweed harvesting is sustainable it changes into something else.

Our information leads us to believe that mechanical seaweed harvesting is not sustainable  –

We made some inquiries to net algae concerning this and received no reply

We made enquiries to the EU – and were sent on a wild goose chase.

– for the EU to support this is contrary to much of what the EU stands for concerning the environment.

The EU is a signatory to the OSPAR Convention – by funding this organization it may be breaking that agreement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSPAR_Convention

We note that Netalgae.eu  on the internet is now something else entirely. Net algae seems to have disappeared.

Where the former homepage was is now a blog in German

some of our files on netalgae.

Irish involvement of Netalgae

This is some of the work of Mairtain Walsh from BIM the company trying to get permission for mechanical kelp harvesting on the Irish coast. Netalgae has been much involved with seaweed harvesting on the Irish coast and with the issuing of grants .

https://www.slideshare.net/EmerTaaffe/mairtin-walsh-seaweed-presentation

From this it seems they believe  are no environmental or ecological issues with any form of seaweed harvesting.  If that was the case why have there been so many objections to this plan both from ordinary protestors, business and professionals.

No2)

https://www.fiskeridir.no/English/About-the-directorate

These are snips from the Fiskeriedirektoratets home page showing maps of the seaweed trawling zones on the Norwegian coast.

Map showing overview of harvesting zones

from our area

Each zone is about 20 sq km and is harvested for a year – that means they can scrape the seaweed bed continuously for the entire year if they so wish.

There is supposed to be a 4 to 5 year period between the harvesting years on each zone but we note that they can harvest every third year in some areas.

Check paragraph 2  the one in blue

this is what Harald Bredahl for fmc says about their harvesting frequency

https://kart.fiskeridir.no/fiskeri

The above link is to the maps provided by the Fiskeriedirektoratet ref seaweed trawling zones and other fisheries activities.

No 3)

259148-kongelig_resolusjon_om_taretraling1

This document mentions 97 bird reserves in the 3 counties sogn og fjordane, Hordaland and Rogaland that are open for seaweed trawling –

The snip below is about concern for birds – it is part of section 5

entitled saksbehandling.

It says it is difficult to be sure about the effects of seaweed trawling on seabirds

but it is clear that some birds are dependent on the seaweed forests for food , that disturbances in the forests can effect foraging activities.

In connection with a local reduction of food seaweed trawling will disturb hatching , overwintering and roosting seabirds – this specially effects diving birds which live in big concentrations. Ref 472 nina niku.

concern about birds

We have other articles ref seabirds  and seaweed trawling

Multi-Trophic_Consequences_of_Kelp_Harvest

No4)

https://forskning.no/fisk-biologisk-mangfold-marinbiologi-fugler/2011/12/krise-sjofugl-nar-maten-forsvinner

This is one of a number of articles from Google on seabirds disappearing – the one we have featured in the video says that some birds have gone down by as much as 80% in the last 15 years .

This is because of lack of food – the cause is the salmon farming industries need for fish meal.   They take large amounts of small fish.

(no mention of the seaweed trawling industry)

The situation is described as very dramatic.

it is interesting to note that after taretråling many small fish disappear

This research paper gives details

Here is a paper from Naturvernforbundet which expresses several concerns in relation to seaweed trawling in bird reserves, a major one of which is that above water it is strictly regulated and controlled but underwater its a very different matter. https://naturvernforbundet.no/getfile.php/1328286-1310630043/Dokumenter/h%C3%B8ringsuttalelser%20og%20brev/2005/Naturvern/planter%20og%20dyr/Kommentarer%20endring%20verneforskriftene%20vestlandet%20-%20h%C3%B8sting%20av%20tare%20i%20sj%C3%B8fuglreservater%2001.04.05.pdf

No5)

Jostein Vea a marine Biologist working for fmc/dupont who claims to have developed taretråling on the Norwegian coast says in this article that if they are not allowed to trawl in the 9 bird reserves the development of natural resources  department has raised questions about then the entire Norwegian seaweed trawling industry would be in jeopardy with the loss of many jobs
.

Jostein Vea goes further to say that this has been a political decision –

that is an interesting statement as it indicates that this decision would not be made on any environmental concerns but by politicians in favor of business.

https://www.nrk.no/sognogfjordane/tarenaeringa-truga-av-forbodet-1.61239

No 6)

kelp harvest impacts summary

Independent research papers are one thing – you can rely on the information because the scientists concerned have put their signatures on the work.

But another thing entirely is government sponsored papers concerning the establishment of an industry dedicated to industrial mechanical seaweed harvesting – at the most extreme one could say they are pro the industry, but that is not the case – the papers we have read to date (ref northern Ireland, Scotland and southern Ireland)  are dispassionate indeed – serious studies of the industries and its effects.

Strangely enough and sadly enough they echo the other research papers we have come across concerning environmental issues and more- thus one could hold to the idea that they are correct.

Irish feasibility study

of particular interest is the summary in the Southern Irish paper

biased reports

No 7)

Multi-Trophic_Consequences_of_Kelp_Harvest

We first came across this paper when we visited Runde for the seaweed trawling conference there.

Svein- Håkon Lorentsen presented his paper after which a massive row erupted with Jostein Vea telling the audience the paper was flawed and had been rejected by various august bodies – vigorously defended by Svein Hakon Louritzen – this at the open meeting.

The paper clearly shows that some species of birds do not have enough to eat after trawling and that some small fish disappear almost completely for extended periods of time.

This bears up our experience at first hand of the effects of seaweed trawling – but another interesting effect is that immediately after the trawling occurs there is an increase in fish – possibly due to the removal of the canopy and the crushing of crabs and other animals – but then after that the numbers fall off dramatically – every time the area is trawled there seems to be less small fish.

It is interesting to note that Svein – Håkon Loritsen is one of the signatures of the Irish research paper.

No 8)

At the Molde Miljøfestival 2019 we had a day dedicated to asking questions about seaweed trawling – Harald Bredahl was good enough to attend, when the issue of chemical defenses in seaweeds came up he publicly stated that “Henning Steen, one of Norway’s leading marine biologists told me that he had never heard of it, that as a major researcher he should know about it,”

It is of utmost importance to be able to verify statements – fortunately one of our activists was able to record the entire meeting – the recording is available on the net and is in our archives.

At the Trondheim taretråling meeting Henning steen as well as many other major figures in the marine biological world were present – this included representatives from many coastal councils as well as figures from the industry.

http://stopptt.com/final-day-of-the-trondheim-seaweed-harvesting-meeting/

I was given the opportunity to make a presentation – originally I had made a film but at the last moment decided to present some of the papers we had been reading,  I read out a brief summary of each paper and asked those present if they knew about the issue – in every case I received a firm No, then i asked if anyone wanted to see the papers – again a very definitive NO.

it was all over in 5 minutes – I had obtained what I needed – their reaction.

Afterwards our little group was approached by a researcher wanting to see some of the papers.  We were also approached by a representative from a large company wishing to become involved in the seaweed industry – he received a thick file.

no9)

Chemical defenses in seaweeds.

Irish feasibility study

Reading the Irish research paper it clearly states that the damaged plants release poisons for up to 6 months after being damaged.

What effect this has we cannot say – however nearly all land plants have one form of chemical defense or another – some are extremely potent.

There are  many papers on the chemical defenses of seaweeds – some are very potent too – others tell of signals being sent from one plant to another so chemical defenses are started there as well – thus it is possible that one zone of damaged plants could effect other areas  thus forming a chain reaction as the majority of the coast is harvested.

Please note the use of the word possible.

Links to pdf documents ref chem defenses.

Seasonal variation of polyphenolics in Ascophyllum nodosum Phaeophyceae

1988_meps_001

2000_meps_003 chemical defences

6916.full

14418.ful

Duffy_Hay 1990

fmr12011

This is a fascinating snip from an expedition to the arctic and clearly poisonous seaweeds 

However it is not a serious scientific paper it is  a press article

However these are as are the links above.

we have a great many more

attacked plants influence other plants

reading between the lines it seems that researching chemical defenses in seaweed plants is a difficult subject and while there are many independent organizations researching seaweeds it seems that fmc sponsors a great many , does this effect what subjects are researched and the outcomes?

What are the penalties for publishing misleading information?

As seaweed is and has been used as a major source for iodine, iodine being poisonous it is more than likely that there is a considerable increase of this in areas where there are crushed plants – what effect this has on marine organisms is unclear

This is what Harald Bredahl  from fmc says about defense chemicals in seaweeds

(“when laminaria grows again after trawling which may take 4 or 5 years or more  there is a defense against all these small boring creatures extending their return from 6 to 9 years .  Seaweed sends out chemical signals that means that the animals do not return to their former homes and that they have few places to hide from mackerel.”   This is incorrect there are none of Norway’s foremost researchers that confirm that these chemical defenses exist.

They can therefore confirm that there is a mass of small fish around the smaller laminaria plants.)

This is quite interesting as this is a major issue – if the plants do have chemical defenses and they do prevent SOME animals and plants returning to their former status til after more years than the harvesting frequency allows then there would be a major effect on marine life, something which could be used against the industry.

This from Harald Bredahl is in response to an article in the Møre and Romsdal Budstikka one of our collaborators wrote – indeed Harald has a point, the article indicates that the chemical defenses (if there are any) prevent animals and fish from returning – we know that most of the animals and plants return but some take between 5 and 9 years to return (depending on which scientific paper you  read but the consensus is there) indicating that there is something preventing them from returning.

It is more than likely that laminaria has serious defenses against predators of one kind or another(like all plants and animals) with chemical being the most likely – to be accurate we should stress that we are not qualified marine biologists we simply read reports and papers, report on their contents and occasionally when we feel the need we come to conclusions we feel are the most likely.

If these conclusions are against the interests of major corporations trawling our seaweed beds then that is something our politicians and readers should investigate for themselves.  Hopefully the information we provide will be of use.

The fact is that many research papers point to the incomplete restoration of the animal and plant life in the seaweed beds after trawling

This is from Netalgae – the eu company concerned with promoting all forms of seaweed harvesting.  The document concerned is a study of harvesting on the Norwegian coast.

If you consider that most of the marine life is relatively short lived and mobile why does it take so long to regrow/recolonize?

If the area is trawled every 4 to 5th year it never reaches the 7th as mentioned in the document above.

This is from an independent Norwegian research institution

the full document  5150_200dpi

restoration takes longer than the 4 to 5 years allowed by the industry what is the connection with chemical defenses?

Release of toxins by damaged plants for up to 6 months after trawling may or may not be chemical defenses but it would have an effect, especially when spread over such a large area  that harvesting covers, the Irish paper which this is from also states that this effects the growth of spores – we know some areas have little regrowth after trawling.

We can only conclude from the news article on the possible sanction of trawling in 9 registered bird colonies that seaweed trawling on the Norwegian coast is regulated by politics, not science.

This little article on the surface is amusing –

seaweed can effect the weather.http://www.scitizen.com/biodiversity/the-antioxidant-function-of-iodide-in-kelp-impacts-coastal-climate_a-22-2041.html

Essentially it says that when seaweed, in this case laminaria hyperborea is stressed (under attack) it releases iodine which in the atmosphere can form fog, but the paper also goes on to say that it is also released into the water in large amounts – thus i think clearly defining a chemical defense weapon in seaweed which if the Irish paper is correct is released in large amounts for up to 6 months by damaged plants.

No clearer evidence of chemical defenses in seaweeds – in particular this one laminaria hyperborea is required.

no 10)

Reduced growth of laminaria  having serious consequences for coastal communities and wildlife. (Henning Steen)

This is from an article on the havsforskningsinstitut home page

This article seems to have disappeared – formerly it could be reached by a link on the fmc/dupont homepage.

link to homepage https://www.stortare.no/ – the dupont/fmc site.

Information on home page fmc/dupont ref environmental effects

https://www.stortare.no/miljo.html   

It is interesting to note that accreditation of a scientific paper is how we know that the information is correct, so it should be signed by a researcher staking his or her reputation on that fact – none of the articles on the fmc homepage are signed and the only link to a signed document we could find on this page seems to have stopped working – this is the Henning Steen document saying that damage to the forests could have serious economical and environmental consequences.

no11)

https://www.fiskeridir.no/Yrkesfiske/Areal-og-miljoe/Tarehoesting

There are many facts and figures on the internet concerning laminaria – many of them don’t quite agree so we have chosen one we feel we can rely on and that is from the organization regulating fishing of every kind on the Norwegian coast – the fiskeriedirektoratet.

From the above document we have included a little snip

It stresses how important seaweed is to the ecology and wellbeing of the coast.

That the seaweed beds cover approximately 10,000 sq km and that they are a major factor in cleaning the waters from dangerous pollutants mainly from Norway’s Industries.

It is interesting to note that the salmon farming industries have used vast amounts of hydrogen peroxide in the last few years

After use it is dumped into the sea – often in areas used by the shrimping industries destroying that industry and causing considerable economic hardships. (it is after all used to kill fish lice who are crustaceans so why should it not affect shrimps who are also crustaceans) – indeed fmc is a major player in the production of hydrogen peroxide having received a fine of some 20 million euros for interfering in the sale of the chemical

https://www.law360.com/cases/4d3ab7ad5002d1104c00000a/articles

Hydrogen peroxide is very acidic – it is sometimes  difficult to find reliable  information on the internet – clearly there have been attempts at removing or altering possibly sensitive articles however information we trust puts the ph of hydrogen peroxide at between 1.2 and 5 – as it is made mostly made using sulphuric acid(ph 1)  its ph is not surprising but it effects on the marine environment are.

Its effects on the ecosystem and animals have been kept hidden for many years

It kills seaweed for a start – this information came out because attempts at growing seaweed near to salmon farms failed – the culprit was soon found to be the chemical used by the industry to control sea lice – hydrogen peroxide

https://www.nrk.no/trondelag/ny-forskning_-svake-doser-av-lusemiddelet-hydrogenperoksid-dreper-tare-1.14382814

The industry apologizes for misleading information

http://oppdretsnæringa beklager feil informajson om lusemiddel

NO 12)  The local seaweed deppo

http://www.kommunenvar.no/?div_id=54&pag_id=55&art_id=1180

The website proudly announces they take in about 50,000 tons per year.

If you consider the snip from the Irish state paper that figure should take into consideration that for every stalk harvested 2 are left destroyed – so to be correct that figure should include another 100,000 tons left destroyed on the seafloor.

Satellite map of seaweed deppo

No 13)

Northern Ireland feasibility study of the seaweed harvesting industry.

seaweedharvestingniehspositionstatement

This paper is produced by the northern Ireland environment and heritage service.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-and-heritage-service

We have contacted the service ref this paper and spoken to the authors and are very secure in the belief that this is a completely neutral study of the industry.

It clearly reinforces our belief that mechanical seaweed harvesting is not sustainable, here are the relevant snips from the above document

Page 10 ref harvesting methods.

Mechanical harvesting unsustainable

No 14)

Irish feasability study

This is another feasibility study of the seaweed harvesting possibilities in southern Ireland produced by and for the government of that land.

kelp-harvest-impacts-summary

When a paper has the signature of its author it is verification that the author to the best of his or her abilities has declared that the information contained is true.  Thus they have staked their reputation and their career on this.

This has the signature of 45 researchers from many countries including 7 from Norway.

It makes a number of statements that could have serious impacts on the seaweed trawling industry.

Here it says that 2 plants are broken for every 1 harvested – Assuming that the “broken” plants die then that clearly states that twice as much is destroyed as is harvested add that together then the harvest should read 3 times more than is declared – thus the Norwegian harvest is 200,000 tons plus “for the 2 plants left broken for every one harvested ” 400,000 tons making that a total of 600,000 tons annual harvest on the Norwegian coast.

Toxins released by dying plants.

This particular reference refers to laminaria digitata, however there is no reason why this cannot apply to lam hyper too.

(page 54)

This from the above document states that the crushed and dying plants release toxins for up to 6 months after the damage – as previously stated 400,000 tons of damaged laminaria plants releasing toxins is something that should be taken seriously – yes the paper does not have any information on the type of toxin however laminaria has been used as a source of Iodine and other substances – iodine is a serious poison.

For further information ref chem defences see No9)

Norwegian reports biased.

The industry is keen to promote every aspect of its work as beneficial – thus it is easy to find unsigned information and or altered wiki articles substantiating this.  Fmc/dupont is also a major contributor to financing research – it is easy to assume that negative results would not be desirable – we have observed the effects.  Fortunately there are a number of marine research institutions in Norway that do not seem to be affected by this yet, so there is plenty of information available ref the negative consequences of seaweed trawling.

This document is written by many experts and specialists, their combined knowledge and expertise is clearly shown with valuable references to further reading. 00510620

The authors

contributors

There is currently an attempt to introduce kelp harvesting by mechanical means on the Irish coast – the target area Bantry Bay.

This aroused a huge public outcry with several Irish mps making statements in the doyle.

A very active protest group with over 25,000 signatures – many protest marches and serious questions being asked as to the interest of the Irish government in maintaining a ecologically sound marine environment.

Facebook link https://www.facebook.com/bantrynativekelpforest/

no 15)

00510620  Wild seaweed harvesting in Scotland report.

This is a feasibility study on the possible industry – state produced

we wrote a report on this some time ago

https://stopptt.com/scottish-seaweed-harvesting/

It is a very pretty report but has some discrepancies

There has been an attempt by the Scottish government to start seaweed trawling on the Scottish coast – this was met by a massive response against the initiative – some 30,000 protest signatures plus over 150 small industries involved with the Scottish seaweed industry protesting

SE_LINK_Response_Marine-Biopolymers-Scoping-Report_2018

LINK is concerned that the approval of this proposal would open the door for other companies to begin harvesting kelp and for this industry to expand rapidly, without adequate controls and without a full understanding of the broader ecological consequences of kelp removal. Without a detailed understanding of the distribution, density, health, and recovery rate of Scotland’s kelp habitats it is not possible to identify sustainable rates of harvesting.
Before applications for large-scale, commercial seaweed harvesting can be considered, it is vital that the Scottish Government develops a seaweed management plan that ensures any large-scale removal of seaweed is carried out sustainably and will not have a long-term, detrimental impact on the marine environment. The management plan should identify small areas where seaweed harvesting can be trialled, with robust mitigation and monitoring measures, but leave the majority of seaweed habitat untouched, which can be used as control sites for future studies to assess the environmental impact of seaweed harvesting.

This seems a very sensible approach – so why was it not implemented before the request to initiate seaweed trawling was set in motion – several possible answers.

The facebook site for the protest group

https://www.facebook.com/nokelpdredging/?__tn__=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARBUagesec5VdQxhWuxy6q4UcOxxM-VvIWJnohmp1e2RB5U2oEj1xhQvMQPjv6f_FpQPSuHldIJRzF52

Finally Sir David Attenborough became involved with the issue

first a letter to the times

Then articles

https://www.archynety.com/tech/sir-david-attenboroughs-bid-to-save-scottish-kelp/

Several Scottish politicians spoke out against the seaweed trawling but we note that the company concerned was told to try again at some future date.

The original report has several glaring anomalies – including no mention of the use of formalin, a declaration that to maintain the biomass in the forests the roots are going to be cut off the plants and replaced – fascinating.

Just to be clear formalin has to be used (many other chemicals have been tried) to stop the plants from releasing hydrogen sulphide when they start to decay which is almost immediately they are taken from the water – to harvest the amounts mentioned here they would certainly need the chemical – it is listed as a grade 1b cancer risk – that is you are very likely to get cancer (5 different types) if you are exposed to it for any length of time.

no16)

Rinde et al. 2006 – Effekter av taretråling

This paper is produced by Nina

https://nina.no/

They seem to be completely independent of any major connections to industries involved with exploitation of our nature.

https://www.nina.no/english

Unlike the Havsforskningsinstitut.

The front page of the report

The information that is of particular interest to us is this

Essentially it identifies the amount of regrowth laminaria hyperborea produces per m/2 and harvesting frequencies and does the math which identifies 85/km/2 as the area needed to produce the 200,000 odd tons the Norwegian seaweed harvesting industry says it harvests per year – if every condition was perfect.

The area would be divided into 20sq km strips as it is in the “wild” which would each be harvested on a 5 year rotational basis.

It is interesting to note that the paper identifies that the conditions are never perfect so much more would be needed anyway but why so much?

In fact over 100 times more is harvested making it clear that something is seriously wrong – why would the company concerned be so keen to harvest in sensitive areas such as bird reserves if they did not have to?

Surely the negative publicity would be  bad for business?

No17)

This is in reference to Harald Bredahl https://www.stortare.no/kontakt/vormedal.html

Here is our film of his performance at the Clima festival in Molde jan 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CfXHAt7TCk 

Ably filmed by one of us

He demonstrates how much seaweed there is on the Norwegian coast by dividing it up into squares – the red squares are the amount that is torn loose by storms and other actions – the green squares represent the amount fmc/dupont takes per year – Harald Bredahl adds the green squares to the red squares rather than leaving them separate – presumably indicating that it is so little that it could easily be accepted as a natural loss however we say that is wrong because the plants are not naturally torn up by a mechanical trawl nor crushed and left producing poisons (ref Irish paper) the paper also says that for every plant torn up, 2 are left damaged, thus the green squares should be 3 times larger than represented.

This is another attempt by the industry to try to minimize the impact its activities have on our ecology.

our report on the 2018 seaweed trawling debate as part of the 112 clima festival in Molde http://stopptt.com/lecture-and-debate-on-seaweed-trawling-molde-klimafestival-jan-2018/

No 18)

From the West Highland free press – an article from the company wanting to start commercial seaweed trawling on the Scottish coast.

This came out after a campaign against the introduction of the industry was vastly successful.

This  snip is important for us as it shows how the big firms involved want the governing bodies to think.

Here is the relevant piece from the above

This is fascinating as it says we dont know what we are talking about – that they do.  That they use the best scientists and marine experts .

That sustainability is at the heart of everything they do and that the harvesting method they want to use has been successfully used in Norway for over 50 years.

It is interesting to note that they have not produced any information from scientific papers(that we have seen) confirming the sustainability of the industry –  so far, but we have.

You can follow our information back to its source and find out for yourself.

We would seriously like to be wrong about the environmental and ecological issues but nothing we can find verify shows this – only opinion pieces.

 our short film at the 2018 seaweed trawling debate in Molde (part of the 112 clima festival)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29yYN4Cggr8

At the event in 2019 there was more time for  debate –

Magnus Tornes identified himself as a marine biologist and made the following statement concerning our new film

“this is the most hair raising i have ever heard – there is a complete lack of understanding”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtzNndaLycs

it is possible that this is more to do with someone daring to stand up against the interests of big business and using the words used in scientific reports (which  is very difficult for anyone to contradict) than it is to do with facts.

The words used in any report are the same words we all use, they have the same meaning for scientists as they do for everyone.

There is a very definite hierarchy in the scientific world, the word of senior researchers is not questioned, this is why we are at a distinct advantage – we have no qualifications, no career which could be damaged by standing up to bullying, but we do know that our publications are carefully read.

We are often contacted by major companies, regulating bodies, students and other organizations seeking information, we do our best to comply.

No19/20)

The Morals of Big companies and corporations.

The desire to compete is something that is induced at a very early age, for some this goes beyond reason and morality.  This is possibly why there is a possible connection between successful businessmen and psychiatric abnormalities.

The question of your product causing death and tremendous suffering has long been a historical record with few consequences – the tobacco industry covering up scientific results clearly showing it is a major cause of cancer – you can still buy tobacco in every country in the world and the fact that people still smoke shows they have not considered the implications seriously enough – not me seems to be the key.

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/tobacco

– in the early part of the 19centuary a company called undark convinced its employees to decorate the dials of watches and other instruments with radioactive paint – they were encouraged to lick the brushes covered with paint to a point – net result – every single one died the most agonizing death from radiation poisoning

https://www.damninteresting.com/undark-and-the-radium-girls/

The 2 corporations  concerned with seaweed trawling on the Norwegian coast

have some of the most dismal records of any.

FMC http://www.fmc.com/

Dupont https://www.dupont.com/

Their “corporate” faces.

Fmc corp is composed of well over 200 companies with many and varied interests, but most are involved with the exploitation of natural resources and many have been found guilty and received world record fines for pollution of nearly every kind.  Others have received fines for illegal business practices such as price fixing cartels  or even downright fraud.

Their agricultural chemistry branch produces a chemical called Carborufan or alternatively known as furadan, they say it is essential for controlling pests – unfortunately it is also eaten by birds and mammals – it kills with an agonizing death – because of this it has been used to kill large predators such as lions, this has now been recognized and there are some attempts at control but for many years this chemical was available for very little over the counter in African stores

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf7m2kSU94o

Reaction to concentrated protests have led to a ban – however if the company was responsible then this would not have been necessary – if companies/corporations who are trusted with research never lied or twisted the results the world would be a much healthier place, good for business.

Fmc is also involved with the extraction of Lithium from the Atacama – this is one of the driest environments on earth and is consequently also one of the most fragile ecosystems on our planet – information concerning the ecological damage is available on the net

Lithium_Microscope

these are just a few of the issues with fmcs exploitation of the natural world.

It seems the old philosophy of – if it is damaged we can pay for it still exists – it is clear that money will not compensate for the losses that nature has suffered, nor will it compensate for the ultimate loss to humanity and thereby our suffering.

Fmc has also a few issues in the business world

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/125-Million-Verdict-in-Bradley-Fighting-Vehicle-3008988.php

direct fraud

The big question is should any company/corporation be allowed to continue if it is clear that it has a habit of misleading?

We trust not only our nature to these people but ultimately our wellbeing and our lives, do they deserve that trust?

DUPONT.

https://tv.nrk.no/program/KOID21007018/et-giftig-industrieventyr

This focuses on the issues from the production of Teflon and how the company behaved –

This is what they say about seaweed.

https://www.dupontnutritionandbiosciences.com/sustainability/world-oceans-day.html

In reference to undark and other lethal industries the major product from dupont was Teflon –

Domestically it is in nearly every household in the form of coating on cookware and other items subjected to heat.

It is clear that the product is flawed and should never have been allowed on the market because when it reaches the temperature of 220c it starts to release dangerous substances among which is a gas called

PERFLEUROISOBUTENE

This gas is so poisonous it is in section 2 of the chemical weapons register.  The reason why there are no household deaths associated with the substance is that the layer of Teflon on the average pan is so thin that there is simply not enough to do more than make one ill with  flu like symptoms – this is what duponts homepage says – or said

Yes there is enough on a frying pan to kill household birds but not enough for humans though there are a number of  recorded deaths associated with the chemical

The public and the state are still mislead over the dangers of ptfe (Teflon) by clever use of the substance used in the manufacture of Teflon, pfoa

By owning up to its carcinogenic and mutagenic nature the attention of the media is drawn to this and they look no further – endless articles on Teflon and du pont only focus on this, not on the real issue TEFLON should never have been used on domestic cookware.

Though there is not enough teflon on a frying pan to kill of it gets too hot, there is more than enough in a spray can of ptfe (Teflon) produced by many companies worldwide.

Contact with state run health and safety organizations, with independent press, both state and private have produced a deafening silence though they admit the information is correct –

No 21)

As stated above – Teflon produced by the company now controlling seaweed trawling on the Norwegian coast is a dangerous product and should never have been allowed for domestic use, certainly not with food.

Ski wax is usually applied using heat – this has made many people sick – Norwegian broadcasting NRK produced a series of articles on this issue.

It is interesting to note that there seems to be no mention of perfleuroisobutene –

No 22)

https://www.foxnews.com/story/rotting-seaweed-on-french-beaches-releasing-potentially-deadly-fumes

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/killer-seaweed-clears-french-beaches/news-story/d7bf98c79706bff723c771892904a243

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/fears-rise-over-french-killer-seaweed-that-left-15-wild-boar-dead-2326492.html

This problem is not just restricted to the species of seaweed found on the French coast but also the channel islands and the UK coast – further this is the same with nearly all seaweeds.  The Norwegian seaweed trawling industry is particularly affected as it has to store very large amounts – often several thousand tons at a time.

The gas released by the rotting plants is particularly lethal in enclosed spaces

No 23)

Formalin is used by the seaweed trawling industry to prevent the release of lethal hydrogen sulphide gas from decomposing seaweed plants.

Formalin has been much used for disinfection, storage of scientific specimens, and far more.

Because of its “passive” nature it has not been regarded as especially dangerous, however its real nature became evident in the early 70s and as a result it was banned in all schools and museums as a preservative  – it causes cancers – at least 5 different types are associated with this chemical.

Some exposed workers can be safe for many years then develop the cancers – others take a much shorter time, as a result it has been classed as a 1b2 cancer causing substance – that means you will probably develop cancer if you work with it.

With a figure of near 1 in 3 contracting cancer in their lifetime it is essential that anything which can cause cancer is taken seriously by society and not regulated by the needs of large companies.  The costs of caring for cancer patients by far outweighs the financial gains of society from any industrial activity, thus we are all paying financially for the gain of a few individuals.

From the american cancer society

The man in the article below is a professor who worked on seaweed samples for many years before developing lung cancer – he was informed by his employers that formalin was so harmless you could drink it – they refused to install proper ventilation systems in his work place.  His illness and the cause has now been officially confirmed – yes he got cancer from Formalin.

https://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/advarte-mot-kreftfare-ved-universitetet—ble-syk-selv/65239770

It is the only chemical that has been proven to be effective against the production of hydrogen sulphide by rotting seaweed plants.

It is used extensively in the Norwegian seaweed trawling industry though the industry itself says it uses little.

After use the chemical is dumped into the sea

This boat Bona Sea is one of 3 carriers for seaweed on the Norwegian coast – it was stopped by the miljødirektoratet   https://tema.miljodirektoratet.no/en/

and researches carried out – it was found to have used – and dumped 24,500 liters of formalin in 9 days – further the industry uses 800,000 liters a year.

https://www.nrk.no/trondelag/miljodirektoratet-krever-stans-av-formalinutslipp-i-havet-1.13715810

it is interesting to note that the article says “illegal dumping” and yet it still goes on.

We know of a compensation case  in Kristiansund in the 90s where all the workers in a seaweed deppo became sick, most with cancer but unfortunately we cannot find any official details. This is confirmed from several sources.

The seaweed deppo at Smørholm has a large tank of formalin on an exposed rock, the pipework is in the air – the sign confirming the contents is too small to be read at any distance, there are no warning signs – none of the workers we have observed wear any protective gear and the weed covered with formalin is exposed to the air as it is dumped from an open conveyor into the cargo hold of the transport ships.  The equivalent of waving a cloth soaked in formalin in the air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1m1-JnqWEI&feature=youtu.be

There are many families in the area with new houses currently being built.

The dangers of formalin have been strongly played down by employers, with several actively seeking to influence the public as to its apparently lack of dangers

it is interesting to see how the Wikipedia article on formalin has been changed over the last 5 years

Before

Now

While the significance of the article remains unaltered for those who scan read, it has changed significantly, from 30 ml being enough to kill one it now reads

“it is not acutely toxic as many milliliters are required to kill you”

from “Formalin is highly toxic to all animals regardless of method of intake”

to “It occurs naturally and is an essential intermediate for cellular metabolism in mammals and humans”

No 24)

How can this be allowed?

FMC and DUPONT are now jointly running the operation for the production of Alginate from seaweed on the Norwegian coast.

The only facility that can and does produce alginate is at haugesund – weather it is owned by fmc/dupont or not is not an issue – it is there to exploit our very valuable and sensitive seaweed beds.

Rereading the front page of the Alginor website I was hit by these horrific words:

To secure a sustainable and efficient utilization of this important stock it is necessary to exploit the entire biomass.

Here it is in context:

Website address: https://alginor.no/company/#company

So here is a company with a massive EU grant saying that to make the business work they need to exploit the entire seaweed biomass on the Norwegian coast

Seems that at last the gloves have come off.

Is the EU sponsoring the destruction of marine habitats?

This advertisement appeared in the Norwegian Newspaper vårtland a few days ago.

My colleagues picked it up at once – ALGINOR and yes it is about the exploitation of our Norwegian seaweed beds of Laminaria hyperborea or stor tare.

The advertisement mentions a share sale – the date of the paper is the ff21 of august 2019 – the date of the closure of the sale is the 23rd so the buyer has 2 days in which to make up his or her mind – that is just a little unusual, so we did a little internet research – first page:

The first thing is that the Norwegian environmental group Bellona is involved

We contacted them with reference to seaweed trawling many years ago – they replied that they could not comment as they had been working with fmc (the seaweed trawling company) on cultivation projects.

This is the wiki article on the leader of Bellona Fredrik Hauge.

In an nrk article he mentioned that it was much better working from the inside than fom the outside as he has been in the past.

it says that Bellona has adopted a very pragmatic method of working in the environmental protectionism world – they work with rather than against the companies concerned – fact is this may probably be the best way of solving many of these serious environmental issues but by supporting the proposed share sale it is not working for the environment but trying to sponsor its destruction.

This is Bellonas part of the Alginor website

Yes it says that Bellona will be working with the seaweed harvesting companies to try to limit the ecological damage it does

Hey, wait a bit “with a common goal of a sustainable kelp harvesting industry”

That implies that it is not so now because if it was they would not need to “assist”

We know that Bellona employs many budding marine biologists so they would know what effect it is having on our marine ecosystems and yet it is ignoring this because every independent research paper we have read clearly shows the effect on the environment this industry is having.

Further we are not alone having been joined by large groups in Scotland and Ireland who are in agreement over this issue.

This has also been under the spotlight of such personages as Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough

Another interesting little addition to the front page of the Algea website is the EU sponsorship

They have been given 1.9 million euros so far (for the destruction of our marine habitats???)

Following the various leads it is based on a organization called Horizon 2020 – they say they have 7 billion euros to give out to innovative and important projects

Our current information concerning the harvesting of Laminaria hyperborea on the Norwegian coast is that the industry is finding it difficult (in spite of frequent statements on the good health of Norwegian seaweed) to find enough raw material – further we know that FMC/DUPONT imports seaweed from Chile and other south American lands (Peru was omitted from that list after we pointed out that it banned all forms of seaweed harvesting in 2008 – but note only omitted ) their seaweed beds must also be having problems.

Many councils here after more reports, decided to change the harvesting frequencies from 4 years to 8 years – that would seriously affect the industry too, so investment would seem a little strange at this moment.

We are trying to contact the EU concerning this and will post as soon as we have a reply.

It’s not just us anymore

Since we started this campaign we have always wondered if we were right?

Frankly its a heavy burden, reading endless papers which all say pretty much the same – clearly showing that seaweed trawling is having devastating effects on the wildlife and environment – while nearly all the environmental organizations say nothing.

Further still the state organs responsible for our wellbeing and  the state of our environment and ecology must know but say nothing.

The big question being “are we right”?

Here is confirmation of the biggest kind possible .

David Attenborough has written an article published in the Times newspaper in the UK clearly stating the state is ignoring science and COMMON SENSE concerning seaweed trawling.

 

This article was sent to us by our colleagues in Scotland fighting the introduction of seaweed trawling there.

here is a link to David Attenborough’s organization and the  article concerned

https://www.fauna-flora.org/news/sir-david-attenborough-urges-protection-scotlands-kelp-forests

We have already sent a link to the Norwegian news service NRK.

we hope and trust that the voice of such a important person in all our lives will not be ignored, especially by the Norwegian state.

If the validity of the seaweed trawling industry is called into question – so will the validity of those marine biologists and organizations that support the industry – this is a serious matter indeed as it calls into question the world of very many individuals who are in a position of power.

The pollution and destruction of our world is caused by the very companies involved – their activities can only be described as ecocide –

The suffering caused by the illnesses inflicted on us by the release of chemicals into our nature is something that these big companies never have to pay for.  Only those individuals and the states concerned.

It is time the protection they have is stripped away and their actions treated just like any other crime, and they like any criminal.  This should also apply to those who protect and nurture those individuals and industry.

Comments for Scottish government ref proposed seaweed tråwling

Wild seaweed harvesting scoping report 17 July 2018

COMMENTS.

This report is of great interest as the industry has long been eying the seaweed banks in the UK (crown services):

Nitrogen phosphate uptake by cultivated seaweed

Here in Norway laws are changed to facilitate the industry and great care is taken to obscure the long term effects from the media though this information is available in scientific papers which have a very low readership.

Having studied and filmed the industry in many years this information is easy to substantiate. Further individuals operating in the industry are now concerned over its ecological impact sending us anonymous letters and information.

Many people operating in the industry are subject to threats and vandalism as many of the communities where they operate see this as the cause for economical and ecological changes.

http://stopptt.com/

Some very large areas of the Norwegian coast are now closed to fishing because of the spread of dioxins and pcbs. These chemicals were dumped here in the 60s and 70s in large amounts from specially adapted ships – The chemicals were from the plastics industries and were mostly solvents used for cleaning.

We have the names of some of the companies and the ships.

The barrels should have been deposited in deep waters near to fishing grounds but its possible they were dumped pretty much anywhere.

It is well known that seaweed is capable of detoxifying many chemicals and these are some of them – these chemicals would have been distributed over the years in sediment around the roots of the plants – tearing up the plants would re distribute the sediments.

The timing of the start of the problem and the start of mechanical harvesting are not incongruent –

We can find no studies of the spread of sediments from seaweed dredging – nor the release of any chemicals in those sediments but we do know that laminaria hyper cuts the effect of wave energy by as much as 80% (mork)

Sea water caries a great deal of sediments – they would be effected by the forests.

Here is our report:

http://stopptt.com/sea-floor-disturbance-and-polluted-sediment-redistribution/

The plan to harvest using the comb dragged by a powerful trawler is based on the idea that the Norwegian methods are ecologically and environmentally sound.

The Norwegian industry breaks several Norwegian laws – special permission had to be obtained:

State permissions for seaweed trawling

A great deal of research has not been undertaken – possibly because the results would have a negative effect on the industry.

Nearly all land based plants have some form of chemical defense – this is also true of marine plants though of course seaweeds are not the same as land based plants in fact they are not plants at all, but for the purposed of this document it is preferable to use that name.

Some marine plants have powerful toxins but it appears that no or very little research has been undertaken on laminaria . There is evidence to suggest that the plants do communicate with each other – thus a herbivores mechanical action will trigger the release of protective chemicals which will also be released by plants in the area unaffected by the predator.

This could have the effect of preventing the re colonization of an area by sensitive species as evinced by reliable reports ref re colonization taking between 7 to 9 years long after the Laminaria hyp plants have regenerated to a harvestable size.

re colonization of some species

https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/213085/5150_200dpi.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y

The proposed harvesting method would mean that those species would be denied access to the forests on a nearly permanent basis thus producing a profound change in the ecology of the seaweed forests.

Here in Norway nearly the entire coast is harvested – information on this is easily available.

There are serious changes in bird populations, and fish migrations and conditions.

If the above information is correct then it would make no difference on the amounts harvested as the entire coast would ring like a bell.

To reiterate the point – there is no research we can find directly relating to this issue but there are indications that this may be correct.

To be secure a serious study of this issue needs to be undertaken.

There are also concerns over the study undertaken by Lennert Balk ref Mass die off from Thiamine deficiency syndrome – it is possible this is linked to the presence of thiaminase or anuorase as it was formerly known, in prey fish species such as herring and anchovies, there seems to have been little or no research into this – it is known that one source of the enzyme is algae on the test of sea urchins – there must be many other sources, a change in the ecology, especially of herbivorous browsers could lead to a change in the presence of the enzyme
.

We have video of birds exhibiting the symptoms Balc describes.

http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/mccormick/pdf/SR2016b.pdf

A study into the feasibility of commercial seaweed harvesting undertaken by the Irish Government states that one cannot rely on Norwegian reports as many studies were undertaken to support the industry and are thus biased.

If a marine biologist were to produce a negative report on seaweed dredging he would have far more to loose in terms of career possibilities than he would have to gain – he would also have to be very careful over his results.

There are many such independent reports.

The Irish study is signed by 45 international researchers – 8 from Norway.

The report goes on to say that commercial dredging would alter the seabed permanently or until the action ceased.  Here is the Irish report.

kelp harvest impacts summary

There are many reports in Norway about the disappearance of seaweed beds – officially it is from Global warming – but laminaria grows as far down as Portugal – we have videos of seaweed beds where the plants look sick – quite some time after harvesting – some of the films produced by Miljøvernforbund a major Norwegian environmental campaign group – show large areas of dead and decaying plants still anchored to the substrate.

https://www.nrk.no/sorlandet/tareskogen-forsvinner-1.329965

This article is from 2005 and shows that it is serious cause for concern – but as far as we are able to ascertain nothing has been done.

Here is a video from Miljøvernforbund a Norwegian environmental campaign group showing the condition of the seaweed beds in one area some years after the last trawling.   View from 3.2onwards.

We have a series of reports from Bodvin, Moi and Steen saying they believe there is little or no environmental or ecological effect from taretråling – the first page details that while the report has the Norwegian havsforsknings institut name on the front page it was paid for by FMC the (former) seaweed trawling company, this detail lies on the second page.

This is probably one of the reports detailed in the Irish feasibility study.

Here is our report on the paper – written by one of our contributors.

http://stopptt.com/effects-of-seaweed-harvesting-on-fish-and-crustaceans-fisken-og-havet-no-42013/

We have a clear video of one of the researchers (Bodvin) at the seaweed conference in Trondheim clearly upset over the activities of a firm of commercial seaweed harvesters (Algea, Trond Kjønno) who he considered had not done enough research on its environmental impact – their activity involved clipping the weed, not tearing up the weed roots and all.

http://stopptt.com/final-day-of-the-trondheim-seaweed-harvesting-meeting/

While the commercial dredging for maerl may have been called into doubt by the ospar agreement it seems that seaweed trawling is not considered an issue – it is well known that fmc is the source of much funding in research and infrastructure for marine research organizations. Does this have an effect on the results?

In fact the EU has donated over 400,000 euros for the furtherance of the Irish seaweed harvesting industry

Irish_Marine_Projects_supported_by_the_EU_INTERREG

One of the researchers involved with the paper much used by the industry (Bodvin, Steen and Moi) Publicly stated at the Conference in Trondheim that seaweed trawling has nothing to do with sea urchin predation – there is serious information to say that it does.

It is clear that from the reports already in public domain that mechanical harvesting is not sustainable, that mass seaweed harvesting brings about profound change in the ecology and environment – that official bodies are unaware of the papers mentioned above concerning the adverse effects of this industry are unlikely.

It is clear that if this information was sufficiently publicized then OSPAR, major UK environmental services, the norwegian havsforskningsinstitut and the EU would be embarrassed to say the least.

To comments on the sea document

Proposal for trawling of seaweed on the west coast of Scotland.

Sustainable benefit – superficially reading research papers on the biotech industry and seaweed there seems to be a major gain from supporting this industry – all the right buttons are being pressed however on closer reading this is not quite the case,

One product carrageenan has a history of causing digestive and other problems – how can this be then it is of major importance in this type of medicine

https://www.cornucopia.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Carrageenan-Report1.pdf

The industry is jealous about protecting its products – there appears to be little or no information on the net over seriously adverse effects from ingesting alginate, but it is there if one looks.

One product Gaviscon is a major aid to digestive issues and has been lauded as a major use for alginates as medicine – here are some of the side effects of Gaviscon

https://www.drugs.com/sfx/gaviscon-2-side-effects.html

Alginates have been hailed as a major product in weight reduction. It does this by stopping the production of an enzyme which enables the body to absorb fat – if this is widespread in everyday foods then everybody would have a reduction in the bodies ability from absorbing fat – little or no research seems to have been done on the long term effects – does the regular ingestion of alginate seriously affect the production of this enzyme, we know that people who stop using milk products stop producing the enzyme that converts milk to a usable food.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-26394577

MBL has now obtained investment partners willing to fund this new startup – would they be fmc or dupont? Both are or have been involved with the Norwegian alginate industry – both have dismal records concerning the environment and peoples rights. Both have received world record fines for pollution and other criminal activities including fmc- direct fraud.

Page 8

Dependent on this investment is raw material source.

30,000 tons will be required per year for 5 years.

Because only 0.15% is used 99% will be undisturbed.

This is not true as vastly more is left on the sea floor than is harvested – the effects of harvesting on defense chemicals seems to have been unresearched – if correct then the effect of harvesting anywhere will be felt over large areas.

Such harvesting has been sustainable in Norway, France and Iceland – again this is simply not true especially of you read the Scottish, Irish and Northern Ireland papers.

Though the Scottish paper says this

here is our report on the 3 papers

http://stopptt.com/international-reports-on-the-ecologicalenvironmental-and-business-effects-of-seaweed-harvesting/

Strategic environmental assessment showed that harvesting could be sustainable subject to monitoring – i would like to see the assessment?

Page 10

Possibly 32 full time jobs – possibly a further 10 – possibilities are not definite.

If the work goes ahead then the employment will be short lived anyway,

The vessels are to be fitted with gps tracking.

Here in Norway the vessels are fitted with tracking – we have observed the tracking right into proscribed areas with no action taken by the authorities and action by us blocked.

We managed 1 prosecution but it took 2 years and a great deal of work from us.

There has also been another prosecution which was heavily defended by a team of lawyers on the island of Runde – they lost the case. The last 2 were prior to ais tracking.

Equipment 2.2.2.

The sled is trawled through the beds at a height of .5 metres. The distance between prongs ensures on, my mature plants are removed.

There is little work on the efficiency of the sleds – how much do they take up, how much is left on the sea floor, how much is crushed and destroyed?

It is not possible to «float» a sled of this type at a continuous height of .5 metres above the sea floor.

Discrepancies in the density of the weed and changes in the topography will cause the sled to bounce –

This statement denies that the sled will be at a continuous .5 metres above the sea floor.

Suggested harvesting efficiencies of 40% to 70% – does this figure mean that between 60 and 30% is destroyed and left behind?? It is not clear, but if this the case then 30,000 tons/year should read at least double as that would be the amount of weed destroyed however its true meaning is obscure.

2.2.3

Harvesting regime – new to Scotland – not new to Norway, perhaps a closer study of the Norwegian industry would be helpful – reading some of the independent research papers for instance – we can supply them

Key measures to avoid significant effects are to obtain licenses for a large enough area –

This indicates the authors are aware of significant effects – as there is no indication we can see of these effects in the proposal it would be useful to know what information they have on these significant effects.

Page 15

2.2.5.

Disposal of holdfasts.

MBL wants permission to dump the holdfasts back into the areas they were harvested from.

The implication is that they want to cut the roots of the plants off and dump these roots back into the harvested areas.

We know of no machinery capable of sorting 30,000 tons of seaweed plants a year so the roots and just the roots/holdfasts can be removed and replaced.

Seaweed harvesting of this kind in Norway requires the use of large amounts of Formalin .

A major problem for the industry is what to do with the waste from the processes involved, especially as they are blended with formalin.

Here in Norway standard procedure is to dump the waste back into the sea – this has caused considerable controversy and indeed a court case but it still occurs.

https://www.nrk.no/trondelag/miljodirektoratet-krever-stans-av-formalinutslipp-i-havet-1.13715810

Immediately seaweed is exposed to air and the plant is damaged bacterial action begins – a by product of this is the production of hydrogen sulphide – this is extremely poisonous.

Due to its high solubility it is easily spread in water.

Many chemicals have been tried as bactericides but Formalin is the only one that fulfils all the criteria.

The EU has banned the use of formalin in all food products and in animal feeds.

In fact it has banned it altogether with any foodstuffs

Page 15 2.2.5

Pending clarification by ms lot it is understood that disposal of holdfasts will need a license.

A best environmental assessment will be necessary.

Further to the use of formalin – it is possible that one of the reasons for the dead areas we have filmed here is the production of hydrogen sulphide from the rotting plants – dumping the roots back is going to exacerbate that if it is the case. If the roots are treated with formalin then it is going to produce ecological issues.

Page 15 2.2.4

Harvesting periods – the information here is incorrect – the Norwegian harvesting cycle here at Hustadvika is every 4th year – with a provision in the law that states only a 3 year gap is required in Møre and Romsdal – we understand that in other areas the gap is longer.

2.2.5

Sustainable harvesting of kelp resources.

What does this mean exactly – we have clear scientific reports stating the period required for a restoration of biodiversity is between 6 to 9 years, not 5.

As this report states continual harvesting will lead to permanent change, or until the harvesting ceases

No harvesting in areas or archaeological importance.

Here in Norway we know of no such provision, divers tell us of wrecks destroyed by this harvesting method – undiscovered sites will be destroyed and unmarked wrecks wrecked permanently –

are they going to send down divers before an area is harvested?

Who is going to check?

Has the company a magnetometer

Who is going to enforce this?

MBL proposes to have seasonal restrictions that account for seasonal ecological sensitivities –

Does this mean that MBL is going to harvest in bird colonies?

Here in Møre and Romsdal the harvesters have acess to 87 bird colonies – only 32 have restrictions for the hatching and molting seasons – an estimate is that we have lost over 1/3 of our seabirds.

http://stopptt.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/259148-kongelig_resolusjon_om_taretraling1.pdf

A search on Google reveals many articles on seabirds disappearing

This Paper details a serious reduction in foraging prey for many birds in the years following harvesting with no return to original status until the harvesting ceases which it does not.

Trophic_Consequences_of_Kelp_Harvest

Multi-Trophic_Consequences_of_Kelp_Harvest

FMC has worked hard to discredit this paper – we have observed bitter arguments at conferences – but if it were inaccurate or not correct then what have the researchers to gain – they have everything to loose and nothing to gain by disturbing the harvesting giants.

2.2.6

Marine monitoring.

There is no mention here of microfauna – no mention of fish species though cameras are going to be used – in Norway this has been done but it is interesting to note that the cameras have a tendency to point upwards at passing fish and so not capture the fish in the forest or lack of.

There is a serious discrepancy in species of observed fish in Norwegian reports with very little or no mention of Sygnathid species – this includes the sea horse

as well as pipe fish – they play an important role as plankton grazers and microfauna eaters in the forests.

They are very vulnerable to trawling as they are not powerful swimmers.

3.2

Marine license under the marine Scotland act.

Section 21 (1) a license is required to deposit ———–

Much more work needs to be done on the release of products of decomposition and its effects on the surrounding ecology – if the waste is covered with formalin then its effects will be serious.

Application of MS-LOT will be in accordance with national policy and guidance.

This includes a sustainable marine ecology.

Harvesting ion Norway using this method has been underway for over 60 years – large areas are not not harvested – there are press reports of the disappearance of large areas of seaweed – the state says it is due to global warming – the UK is further south with warmer waters – is your seaweed disappearing?

https://www.nrk.no/sorlandet/tareskogen-forsvinner-1.329965

Using sound science responsibly – this requires taking into account negative reports on the effects of mechanical seaweed harvesting – independent reports

The Scottish government has produced such a report as have the Irish and Northern Irish governments.

In this case we know of only one positive report and that was sponsored financially by the harvesting company – several of the researchers involved have made misleading statements, or statements that are contrary to their report that indicates that there is little or no harm from seaweed trawling.

Research paid for by FMC

our report on the above paper

http://stopptt.com/effects-of-seaweed-harvesting-on-fish-and-crustaceans-fisken-og-havet-no-42013/

Ensuring that marine resources are used in a sustainable way.

This is not sustainable – and will lead to a very short term gain.

Enable move to a low carbon economy.

The amount of co2 bound up in Laminaria hyperborea is large to say the least.

An area of about 1500 sq km was destroyed by sea urchin predation from the 70s onwards – it is estimated that the area would have bound up over 150 million tons of co2 in that period if it was covered by lam hyp.

This area has now grown back and is currently being harvested.

https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/handle/11250/194565

This report SEA has very little to say about the negative effects of seaweed trawling – we urge the authorities to investigate them thoroughly.

The press from the industry to enable harvesting over the entire uk is large and will continue until the state of the seas is acknowledged, then harvesting in Norway and other countries will be called into question.

The crime of ecocide is being forwarded as a part of our future – it is clear that if it becomes international law then seaweed trawling will be on the agenda.

With those responsible taken to task.

Bertram Sømme, Norway

International Reports on the Ecological, Environmental and Business Effects of Seaweed Harvesting

In our journey through the mass of reports and papers on seaweed and seaweed harvesting there are several reports that stand out.

These reports are vital because they are not scientific journals, they are not produced from any point of view other than that of seaweed harvesting as an industry and business.

In other words if you want to become involved in harvesting seaweed commercially these are the papers to read as they are from impeccable sources and are not in any way partisan other than to provide information for the industry

The three reports in this article are produced by the Irish department of the environment, the Northern Irish heritage service and the Scottish governments respectively.

We have reported on these articles before but separately.

They all say the same thing ultimately – commercial mechanized seaweed harvesting is not sustainable.

The Northern Irish report (ref UK)

seaweed harvesting niehs position statement

Front page

Snip from above document ref mechanical harvesting

Mechanical harvesting unsustainable

The Irish government report

kelp-harvest-impacts-summary

from above report – signatures

international contributors

contributors

biased reports

 The Scottish government report

00510620

Front page

consequences of large scale harvesting

Details of consequences

sustainable commercial harvesting Norway and Chile

These 3 reports clearly state that Mechanical commercial seaweed harvesting is not sustainable – though the last snip says that it is sustainable in Chile and Norway but not anywhere else – could this be because those governments could not be seen as allowing anything to occur in their territory which is not sustainable.

The Chilean coast is suffering from massive environmental problems – the Norwegian coast is undergoing massive changes to the ecology, large areas are now closed to fisheries – both countries have largely uncontrolled industrial fish farming.

Lecture and debate on seaweed trawling – Molde Klimafestival jan 2018

The first lecture in the debate was by Harald Bredahl from Fmc/dupont the company doing the seaweed trawling.

The first part of the lecture was spent trying to persuade us that the amount harvested is negligible – maybe, but we can see the consequences – it is as if the entire harvesting felt is affected – like an infection that spreads.  In fact there seems to be little or no research as to why this is, there is however research on the effects – a paper by Svein-Håkon Lorentsen (and others) mentioned on this site several times

d912f506ea22383cc0

Front page of above document
.

Clearly details the reduction of over 90% in the first year of the most important foraging fish in the harvested area – one can also safely assume that the area concerned was also “barely touched” by the trawlers.

Harald told us that the trawlers needed such a large area to trawl (nearly the entire coast) because the sea floor was so uneven that it was impossible to harvest in most areas.  Here in the last few weeks we’ve had anonymous mail from apparently within the industry – it says that the areas currently being harvested are being harvested in such a way that the plants are not able to mature thus they are not being removed cleanly from the sea floor leaving most  dying and rotting – if so little is being harvested surely this cannot be a problem unless one or the other piece of  information is incorrect.

Harald also used the paper produced by Bodvin, Moi and Steen as evidence that there is no environmental or ecological damage from seaweed trawling.

Here FMC is using the reputation of the havsforskningsinstitut to support the industry –  when we have 3 governmental seaweed harvesting studies from the UK, Scotland and Ireland all saying that mechanical seaweed harvesting is unsustainable, it throws that reputation into question, especially when the front page of the paper proudly announces that Fmc has contributed financially.

http://stopptt.com/effects-of-seaweed-harvesting-on-fish-and-crustaceans-fisken-og-havet-no-42013/

One of our contributors wrote the report.  This was apparently too much for the skipper of the research vessel used for the research which tried to ram our fishing boat a few weeks after the report was written (someone obviously reads our reports)

We feel strongly that this is not evidence on the harmless nature of seaweed trawling but is in fact a serious attempt to whitewash the industry.

Later in Harald Bredahls lecture the importance of the medicinal side of the seaweed industry was mentioned in some detail.

Most of the miraculous cures we noticed were in the research phase – in fact nearly all were.

The industry is concentrating on the current fad for healthy alternatives, health foods and medicines derived from natural ingredients.

First of all if seaweed derivatives are so vital for our health then it is indeed a precious commodity – using massive trawlers to scrape the seaweed beds is not a clever way of harvesting such a precious resource, especially as it destroys far more than it lands.  We have reports of receding seaweed all over our coast – clearly the state should stop this  and find harvesting methods that are far more ecological and sensitive.

But then perhaps this is all a bluff?

The main product from the 200,000 tons or so of seaweed harvested on our coasts is alginate.  This is used in food preparations and medicines – fillers mostly in the latter.

However because the industry is so keen to publicize this products worth there is considerable research in universities and other bodies,  i.e. they are trying to convince the public that we need to keep the industry going.

We know that the sister product Carrageenan has some serious health issues – mainly digestive – but there is no serious evidence of any problems with alginate – until now.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-26394577

This article from the BBC says that  alginate stops the body from absorbing fat and how that could possibly be useful for slimmers.

The current drug Orlistat has a remarkably impressive list of side effects.

This is a drug you would only consider(not take) if you were really desperate.

https://www.drugs.com/sfx/orlistat-side-effects.html

The question in our minds is – are these side effects from the drug or from blocking the bodies ability to absorb fat.  If it is from the latter then there are serious health issues indeed from alginate – however that is speculation.

Unfortunately Alginate seems to be in most manufactured foods – from coatings on fresh fish, to the outside of salty biscuits- you simply cannot avoid it – it is everywhere – however the body needs fat to survive – so if some of us need less fat and we get this from our current food some of us don’t then there are possible health issues.

Here is a report on carageenan

and further

In fact we know that seaweed can contain all kinds of pollutants – from pcbs to heavy metals such as mercury and worse.

Do we need this industry – especially as it is causing so much damage to our wildlife???

Anonymous Mail

Seaweed trawling is a very emotive issue – there are a number of conflicts concerning individuals, communities and how the seaweed trawling is seen by those who feel it is destroying their fishing, or nature or even ecosystem.

When you are apparently contacted from within the system there are a number of possibilities – the worst of which is that we (the reader) is being played.

The best though (however unhappy) is that the trawler skippers are deeply concerned about the environmental damage their industry is causing and wish to show that they care just like any other good Norwegian.  After all most of them are fishermen or fish and are interested in nature and wildlife.

We also hear that they are experiencing difficulties in small towns and villages when they become known – there have even been fights in public.

The anonymous phone call I received included a great deal of inside information, I have no doubt it was genuine  and posted the basics on our Facebook site, both in Norwegian and English – the interest was phenomenal with over 200 engagements in less than 2 hours.

The call drew attention to the way the new owners are treating the skippers and their catch – they say they are being driven to harvest in a way which is causing severe damage to the ecosystem (we already know that) they are harvesting in areas they know are not mature enough to be harvested so the plants are simply destroyed.  One of the skippers is using illegal documents and so on –

The letter is quite long and again points out the same information.

Rather than take out the relevant facts we’ve decided to simply publish the entire documents for our readers – yes they are in Norwegian so some will have problems reading them.

Double click to read.

These two sides are a kind of introduction and explain why the letters are being sent and what is behind them – as previously mentioned it is gratifying to be “verified” from a completely different angle.

These last 2 sides are with fuller information and have been sent to various agencies.

Double click to read.

We have reported the trawlers to the Norwegian maritime agency for being overloaded – apparently our information and videos were taken very seriously until FMC paid a visit – then our videos were no longer of good enough quality (we have that on tape)

As for working 24 hours – we have for the first time observed the trawlers working at night here – a few weeks ago (January) .

We feel uncomfortable using unverified information however we feel it is important to support anyone brave enough to stand up with the truth about what is happening on our coasts.

It is interesting to note that largely European companies pay lip service to concerns about the environment – some do more – but American companies seem to believe that the environment/nature is just a resource to be used – and if those who own the resource are too stupid to utilize it they will – and they do – worldwide.

How can they get away with this?

Recently Norway focused its attention on investments in the USA from the Oil fund – changing its previous interest in Europe.   This has currently led to Equinor being heavily involved with American interests and in taking over sensitive environmental industries or parts of – due to lack of investment, or lack of serious care there have been serious incidents with some of those industries leading to major pollution incidents

https://www.nrk.no/dokumentar/xl/brennpunkt-har-undersokt-equinors-risikable-frackingvirksomhet-i-usa-1.15274533

This is almost like a boys club – has the Norwegian state been fooled?

Update & Overview

Much of what we know about the sea we get from the press.

We are told frequently that our seas are in trouble.

The news seems just to get worse.

Plastic pollution, whales dying – large number of sea animals dead.

There are some very major players whose interests lie in making sure that the real state of our seas is kept hidden because if it was made public it would seriously jeopardize their interests.

Some years ago our little group started following commercial seaweed harvesting and associated businesses because here on the west coast of Norway we constantly see the seaweed trawlers greedily grubbing out the seaweed beds we know harbor most of the animal species that make up our marine ecology.

Officially the state says there is so much seaweed that it is impossible to cause any harm

The industry in Norway relies on regrowth – in fact we have exact figures on this.

They are extraordinary.

It has been calculated that the 170,000 tons the industry reportedly dredges up per year, if the regrowth was as stated then it would only require only 85 square kilometers, however the industry uses nearly the entire coast. We can only conclude that this is because the plants do not grow back as they should, In fact we have reports that say in many places where trawling has occurred there is no seaweed , it has disappeared. This is further supported by the vast distances traveled by the cargo ships bringing the seaweed to the processing plant at Haugesund from as far afield as the Lofoten islands.

In other words the industry itself is based on misinformation.

The industry is clouded by misinformation – the only information we can rely on is from signed scientific documents not sponsored by the industry, because the industry does sponsor reports and they are biased.

Bearing all this in mind where does one find reliable reports? The UK, the Scottish Governments and the Irish state have all sponsored well documented, signed reports. The last one bears the signatures of 45 international scientists – 7 from Norway.

They all say the same thing – mechanical harvesting of seaweed is not sustainable. Bear in mind that these reports have been produced in support of the industry. So why is it allowed on the Norwegian coast?

This is where the waters get very murky. There is no easy answer – just speculation. However the state protects this industry fiercely even though it is clearly causing major ecological changes. It is happy to change laws and infringe ancient rights, even interfere with investigations.

Perhaps the answers may be found in the companies running the operations.
Initially the company concerned was a Norwegian company called Protomare, they were taken over by a company, part of the massive FMC corporation. Initially called FMC Biopolymer, later FMC health and efficiency. They are interesting because some of the companies FMC own have been involved with massive business scandals, massive environmental pollution and even direct fraud, the last from their military division and against the us state. One of the chemicals they produce – carborofan or furadan is responsible for destroying most of Africa’s large predators – it is also responsible for the mass destruction of bird populations.

Their business interests include the production of Lithium – this is a fascinating subject as the destruction of the ecology and environment surrounding the mining in the Atacama – Peru, Bolivia etc. is largely ignored by journalists.

We have fought a long campaign against the company here on the Norwegian coast.

But we have had some strange results. These results reveal a great deal about the power of the state and how it is used by companies and corporations

We started by following the boundaries the trawlers were supposed to follow – in the first few days we filmed a trawler harvesting illegally – we reported it with video and were interviewed by the fiskeriedirektoratet which is the regulating body. Yes we were told – they were definitely fishing illegally. Over the next few months we were visited – twice by police asking if we saw what we saw – both times we told them we saw nothing, but our cameras saw everything.

So we waited for the results of the prosecution – after 2 years we decided to follow this up and were granted permission. By this time we were a bit unhappy so we decided to record the conversation. The Norwegian state apparently says that a public servant can be recorded without his knowledge because as representatives of the state they can only repeat and follow state policy which is public.

The policeman we spoke to told us that the trawler skippers relied on paper charts and the only one they had showing the boundaries was in the office at the seaweed depot. Further the magnetic North pole had shifted tens of kilometers in the last few years so they had no idea of where they were.

As our evidence relied on the position of marker poles, there was no high technology involved – simply on one side they were allowed, on the other, not, they were on the wrong side.

We presented this information to very senior members of Fiskeriedirektoratet – the case went through in 2 weeks and resulted in a small fine and mention in the newspapers.

A few weeks later a colleague started a similar case. As a highly qualified skipper he based his observations on land marks. The resulting case had a number of lawyers flown in to the small court room by FMC. They lost the case and the small fine was paid.

FMC had for a long time been pressed to have installed tracking so positioning could be proved or not as the case many be. So after a few years the boats were fitted with ais trackers but the tracking was ordered so that only the fiskeriedirektoratet had full access. Shortly after this we received reports of seaweed trawlers operating at night in forbidden zones. We were even called out to one such event. Yes there was a large boat in the stated place going backwards and forwards, just as a seaweed trawler would. No navigation lights, just the searchlight on the roof. We filmed the boat but could not identify it, but they all have different configurations of searchlights. Fact is the boat was operating illegally without the lights – a serious offence. About half way through our observations a large fishing vessel passed the boat within a hundred meters, we later learnt the name of this vessel, but the fiskeriedirektoratet refused to follow this up.

As most of the boats were loaded up to and over the roofs by their seaweed catch we decided to investigate how much they were allowed to load. W e went to the maritime agency responsible for the safety of ships at sea.

Yes we were told they seemed to be definitely overloaded, and have no official loading marks. The ones we could see were well under water.

We saw in the press that there had been a prosecution for overloading.

All of a sudden every boat we saw was loaded up to the top of the storage hold and no more.

Then they were overloaded again.

We contacted Sjøfartsdirektoratet again and were told that they had a visit from FMC, and as a result they were to leave the boats alone. We sent them a recording we had of one of their men telling us how seriously they take this issue. We also recorded them telling us that they could no longer see the names of the boats or details of the FMC boats in the videos we sent them. We were impressed.

We keep an eye on the internet and the production of scientific reports especially those concerned with seaweed trawling, we also produce videos on this matter.

It is far too easy to be taken with the idea that everything proves your case – with this in mind we ask our collaborators to double check our work from time to time, or to write their own for our website.

There was an announcement that there was a new report from the havsforskningsinstitut that said there were no ecological problems from taretråling, so we investigated.

One of the lead authors was Torjan Bodvin. We found a film of him on the internet on the home site of the HI on YouTube. There he said that the HI was going to research taretråling to see if there were any effects and how long they would last if there were any. The film was dated 2014. We searched our archives and found a clip of him at a conference in 2012 telling Trond Kjønno a director for Algea – a firm that also does seaweed harvesting, but a different type – that their lack of research into the effects of their industry could have serious environmental consequences. Most of the research papers we have on the effects of tt are from well before 2010 – the immediate effects have been well researched.

The paper was fascinating, it followed all the protocols – the statistics and graphs were fine examples of the craft – on the first page of the report is proudly announced the it was sponsored by FMC the taretråling company. Unfortunately there were a serious number of discrepancies – it seemed that the area concerned had already been trawled (so how could the research be objective) – there are over 250 species of animals regularly found in the forests – the report was on less than 30. Of the 12 or so species of fish mentioned the vast majority were pelagic, that is they move around – they can be found anywhere. The papers authors Bodvin, Steen and Moi mentioned that they probably did not have enough data to do a reliable report but felt that the effects of the trawling were little to negligible.

One of our collaborators wrote a report on this on our website, it was not kind.

Effects of Seaweed Harvesting on Fish and Crustaceans. Fisken og havet no 4/2013

The research had been done north of Trondheim and used a ship called Fangst owned by a man called Adolf Fanghol from Midsund. You can see the ship quite clearly in the video Bodvin made for the HI.

Some months after the report we were using our fishing boat outside Hustadvika when a blue fishing boat suddenly changed course and steered straight for us. As we were using a go pro and it was on at the time we got a very clear video – It was Fangst.

Fortunately we were able to start the motor and run.

The video shows clearly the boat cutting over our course. If we had not moved it would have at the worst sunk our boat. At the best caused severe damage

We reported the event to the Sjøfarts direktoratet who gave us a case number – and to the police but they did not respond even though we sent them the video and communicated by phone. The Sjøfarts told us they took the case very seriously indeed.

Our researchers from the uk told us that they had noticed that FMC was moving out of seaweed harvesting and that Dupont was now taking over.

For us Dupont is fascinating because they produce a chemical called polytetrafleuroethyline ptfe for short. To make this chemical they need another chemical called PFOA – at the plant where most of this is made several pregnant women gave birth to deformed children – this chemical is carcinogenic and mutagenic. Turns out that something like over 90% of all Americans have this in their bodies. Another name for PTFE is TEFLON.

We did some research into Teflon some years ago and found much to our surprise that while there had been any number of articles on the matter no press article we found mentioned another substance which is given off by Teflon when it is overheated it is called perfleuroisobutene or PFIB for short. This chemical is so dangerous that it is actually in section 2 of the chemical weapons register. We did some further research on a website called H2G2 and contacted a man who said he was the senior chemist at the plant producing the substance in the UK. He poo-pooed the danger and told us that it was negligible because there was simply not enough on a frying pan to make anyone seriously sick. In fact he even told us that the eu sent an armored convoy once a year to pick up the PFIB they had produced to take it to a factory for destruction. We also contacted an old friend who had worked at the uk chemical and biological weapons organization at Porton Down. He told us a colleague had nearly died from inhaling the gas when ptfe had come in contact with some red hot glass. He had a myocardial infraction in less than 3 minutes of the incident we were told. Information on the internet supports this with reports of several deaths. It is interesting to note that PTFE is used in ski wax preparations and that many people become very ill from this as they have to use a hot iron.

Apparently the Norwegian government is looking into the cause.

So Dupont have now taken over the TT industry on the Norwegian coast. A quick internet search reveals some startling facts – yes there are some very hot environmental cases – yes there are some very major incidents and last but by no means least the family that still owns the corporation Dupont is utterly fascinating.

One of the senior members shot and killed a Gardner working for him – he received 30 years in jail and died there. Another senior member hired a hit man to kill someone he disliked – he is still in jail – another member was caught and sentenced for interfering with his children – however the judge decided to let him free as he would doubtlessly have a hard time in prison.

It seems strange to us that the Norwegian state allows this industry to proceed as the evidence is very clear. It is even more surprising that the state allows corporations with such dismal records to have such power on our coast. The state cannot be unaware of the problems associated with the industry and its possible long term effects which are beginning to be felt now if the articles in the Fisheries newspaper are anything to go by.

The last matter reinforced by serious complaints and meetings with over 20 councils up and down the coast. The state simply says that they own the rights to the seaweed forest and that’s it.

There is also an organization run and owned by the EU called Netalgae.

http://www.netalgae.eu/

Its job is to promote all forms of Seaweed harvesting. Initially it started up by researching the various countries involved and produced well researched and reasonably accurate reports. We have used some of their maps in our videos. We started a dialogue with them and started asking questions – the person we spoke to said she would have to consult with their expert on the matter of ecological damage – she went further to say that it would simply not be allowed if there were any ecological problems. They never replied to our last question which was did they know of any negative environmental or ecological consequences. A little quote from their website “in countries where laminaria is harvested with mechanical equipment scientists appear to be concerned with equipment’s impact on species and also on the surrounding ecosystem”  The operative word is “APPEARS” from their site it is quite clear that is  far more than appears, they know.

In 2017 we noticed that there was an addition to their website – a new document. It was called “Problematic”.

It used very diffuse and obtuse language but what it said was that if any organization wanted to start seaweed harvesting they had a team who could help overcome any environmental or local governmental objections. The page also went to a link that stated they had a budget of over 1 MILLION EUROS for this.

– the page has since disappeared.

All in all it appears our marine environment is being ruthlessly exploited by massive corporations, protected by governments prepared to do virtually anything to protect the industry. There is serious information showing clearly the destructive effects on our ecology and environment, but there is far worse to come.

Some years ago serious tt was begun above trondheim after it was found that some of the seaweed beds had grown back after many years of desert like conditions caused by sea urchin predation. It is well known that clearing the plants can open up the area for sea urchin predation – that it can take many years for the forests to re-establish themselves. About 2010 the first reports of massive pcb and dioxin pollution up to and including the lofoten islands appeared – the Hi and government had no idea why they said , but fishing grounds were closed and the catching of several species banned.

There is a very clear report produced by a researcher called Mork – in fact he did his work here at Hustadvika just off the island of Kvitholm. He said that over 280 meters the effect of marine currents are reduced by over 80%. When you pull up a seaweed plant it produces a massive plume of sediment in the water. Yes the plants would act as a filter for any particulate matter in the water. We have a great deal of research papers and articles mentioning how effective the plants are at removing chemicals from the sea. 480 tons of Nitrogen per 20 sq km – removing chemicals such as tnt 5 times faster than land based plants, other pollutants such as mercury and organics and yet more.

In 2017 sklinnebank and Halten bank were closed for fishing of certain species because of pcb and dioxin pollution. M One of our collaborators noticed that the area was overlaid with seaweed trawling grids.

An article appeared on nrk staring that a boat called the Stella Maris employed by a Dutch plastics firm was on its way to the area mentioned to dump chemicals used in the production of plastics – in fact some 600 tons. This was in the early 1971. The ship was turned back but it is clear that many thousands of tons had been dumped earlier, how much or for how long is unknown but some of the names of the companies concerned are known FosfatBolag ab from Sweden being one – another plastindustribedriften Zoutchemie Botlek in Rotterdam
.

Apparently many other boats had made the same trip.

Could it be possible that it had caused the release of these chemicals? We can find no research on sediments from seaweed trawling.

In fact there seems to be some very serious gaps in the research on the plants – hinted at by articles appearing now and again in the press. It is possible that the plants have chemical defenses which are triggered by tt. Land based plants have serious defenses, some strong enough to kill elephants. We do have papers that show seaweed plants can communicate – therefore it is possible that the seaweed forests on the Norwegian coast are ringing like a series of bells especially as each harvesting zone is trawled for a year– that the production of defense chemicals is changing the entire ecology of our coastline, but again as stated – no research available. It is inconceivable to think that the companies involved are unaware, they would see the results as would their skippers and employees.

There are some profound changes however in for instance the mackerel shoals. Some years ago the shoals were massive. Now they have been seriously reduced with young mackerel being found affected by lack of food. One trawler with a quota of nearly 50 tons only managed to catch 800 kg the whole year. If prey animals were no longer able to hide in the forests that would be logical.

As the plants remove pollutants on a large scale – it is logical to assume that if the seaweed beds are damaged this will no longer happen. There is already a Norwegian government watchdog dedicated to harmful algal blooms.

The Blooms or Hab’s are caused by certain types of plankton releasing serious neruochemical toxins when under stress. Some are extremely poisonous, most commonly they are taken in by shellfish and end up in the human food chain – others can become airborne and cause severe respiratory distress as well as streaming of the eyes – even death. An incident on the British coast this year led to over 150 people being seriously affected. The daily papers printed articles on this being caused by habs but the bbc persisted in the belief that it was caused by chemicals leaking from a ship or factory. The USA is currently massively plagued by habs – personal anecdotes tell of a permanent hab in Florida which means that residents suffer serious effects if the wind comes from a certain direction.

In overview it is clear that Harvesting of seaweed disturbs the marine environment in any form. It is repeatedly stated that Mechanical harvesting is not sustainable in any form by papers from Impeccable sources from at least 3 governments. Marine seaweed removes large amounts of pollutants. As our seas are in serious decline allowing this industry to continue is a danger to us all especially as there are vast gaps in our understanding of the forests function and connection with other Sealife.

The seaweed trawling industry in Norway is led by companies that are part of corporations that have massive fines for ecological and environmental criminal offences. There is a large disparity between signed scientific papers and reports produced by and for the industry. Lastly but by no means least, it is possible that the industry is breaking the law on the protection of the environment in many countries including the EU but is protected by powerful interests connected to those countries, in effect breaking their own laws.

(Main article photo photographer: Peter Southwood)

EU Promoting Ecocide

A great deal of the confusion behind science is due to  long words and complicated verbal structures.

This is confusion is often used by  industries to cover the activities they don’t want the public or politicians to know about.

These documents are from the EU, a organization called Net Algae.  The purpose of this organization is to assist seaweed harvesting, to be precise ,commercial seaweed harvesting in all its forms.

It is quite clear that this organization understands the  impact this industry is having on our ecologies.

This is from the document on their website giving an overview of the commercial harvesting activities in the many EU lands.

Filieres_12p_UK (netalgae with overview of European seaweed harvesting)

One of the first things is says is this

Essentially – it is that seaweed is a  keystone species on which a great deal of nature and wildlife depend, and that some countries are concerned enough to protect their marine forests.

Further – it says in the next paragraph how concerned marine biologists are with the damage the seaweed harvesting industry is inflicting on the environment – this is a little disturbing in itself as it plays down the damage caused – especially as it is clearly documented in many papers, they should be very aware of these major papers.

Here is a document entitled projects, produced by Net Algae –  it says it thinks seaweed harvesting in all its forms is a very undervalued business and will help any company or organization wanting to pursue commercial harvesting.

Further it says it can help overcome any environmental or local governmental objections

Yes it says first of all that it wants to bring together environmentalists and policymakers (businesses) , but the big question is why bother, if their stated aim is to harvest under any circumstances as they well know the environmental consequences.  Perhaps they hope to impress the environmentalists of the importance of modern economics?

Here is the front page of the document concerned

It uses incredibly obtuse and dense language – as such it can be interpreted in several ways – however we think we have the gist of it.

Frankly when you consider the budget of over 1 million euros to encourage the scraping and destruction of marine habitats over a massive area the eu seems to be breaking its own laws on natural resources.

we wrote to them asking if they knew of any negative consequences of seaweed harvesting, they did not reply –

Even state documents from the UK, Ireland and Scotland on the feasibility of seaweed harvesting – that is documents promoting the industry, say that commercial mechanical  harvesting is not sustainable – the Irish paper is signed by 45 international marine biologists and other scientists

Here is a little snip   – it talks about biased reports and the sea bed becoming a desert from repeated mechanical harvesting of the type currently employed on the Norwegian coast.

Biased Norwegian reports

Ref Biased Norwegian reports – there is only one reference we can find on the internet which indicates that the damage to the sea floor and marine habitat is minimal and that is on the website of FMC biopolymer, now DU PONT – it is interesting to note that it is unsigned – that is no marine biologist has verified the statements.  The site contains one link to an article which is signed but does not in any way say that harvesting is sustainable or eco friendly in fact it says the reverse.

https://www.stortare.no/ – the dupont/fmc site.

and the “signed link”  http://www.imr.no/temasider/alger/tang_og_tare/nb-no

It is possible that the EU is Breaking its own laws in promoting this industry, it has ignored all indications that it is destroying the ecosystem even though they are clearly indicated in many official state papers.

It is interesting to note that the document Netalgae-Problematic is currently unavailable – perhaps they are sensitive to criticism.