Can seaweed be a useful material for Guernsey?

Accumulations of seaweed sometimes have to be cleared from the beaches

The seaweed that accumulates daily on Guernsey's beaches may seem to some to be an annoying substance with no practical use.

However, to local farmers it has been a traditional source of fertilizer for hundreds of years.

As well as fertilizer some types of seaweed can be eaten, much like many other plants.

Richard Curtis, warden of Lihou Island, said the type known as "green fingers" go well in a salad with anchovies.

He explained: "I use seaweed in several different ways, I use it with school groups - getting them to eat it, but I also eat it at home."

As well as "green fingers" he said he regularly eats dulse, a red type that is most commonly found in late spring: "You can eat it fresh in a salad straight off, or you can cook it like spinach, but, unfortunately, that can take up to five hours."

Some of the seaweed could be used as food or fertilizer

He said when eating seaweed you have to be sure to take it from unpolluted areas as it filters the water and often retains heavy metals which "can be very bad for you."

He added: "As long as the water is clean and moving... the west coast is fantastic for creating them."

Peter Brehaut has been collecting seaweed from the beaches for many years and uses it as a fertilizer.

He said: "I put it in my greenhouse or on bits of my land, quite a few people do."

Peter explained that the reason people use it as fertilizer is that it contains a lot of potash which helps plants to grow.

He also said that some people used to burn it to create a purer form of potash.

Both Peter and Richard think a lot could be done with the seaweed that is often simply left to rot on Guernsey's beaches.

Peter said he thought people were "missing a trick" in not collecting it for fertilizer while Richard said: "There is talk that by using seaweed as food there would be enough available worldwide that we could cure all food shortages."