Maine's rockweed harvest has more than tripled in 20 years, and a new study from the University of Maine shows that the seaweed regains its biomass quickly after harvest.
Amanda Klemmer and colleagues looked at large patches of rockweed, and documented the height and biomass in 100-meter swaths, at 38 sites from Harpswell to Cobscook Bay.
"Our study looked at immediately after harvest, two to three weeks approximately, and then one year after harvest," Klemmer says, "and the rockweed biomass had recovered in that one-year after harvest period."
Klemmer says she was surprised at how quickly the rockweed recovered its biomass.
The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. Klemmer says future research will consider how harvest affects the organisms living in the rockweed.
