Portland, Maine, April 20th, 2023 – Maine’s 5th annual Seaweed Week kicks off today across the state, with more than 60 individual businesses including bars, restaurants, breweries, distilleries, and other artisans participating in the 10-day local food and beverage celebration. From today until April 30th, folks can enjoy kelp food, drinks, crafts and events – from burgers and beer, cheese and salads, to chocolates and craft cocktails – all featuring Maine seaweed at businesses across the state.
Launched in 2019 by Heritage Seaweed and partners, Maine Seaweed Week was established to highlight new and exciting culinary uses for local seaweed, as well as the bounty of seaweed products coming out of Maine. “We wanted to create a fun, annual tradition that celebrates Maine’s spring kelp harvest and gets folks excited about trying seaweed – and nobody is better at that than Maine chefs, brewers, and makers,” said Jaclyn Robidoux, Seaweed Specialist with Maine Sea Grant.
Not only is Maine home to a vibrant wild seaweed harvest sector, but the state also leads the nation in seaweed aquaculture, with over 60 percent of the nation’s farmed kelp coming out of Maine waters. The majority of that kelp is being farmed by Maine fishermen in partnership with Atlantic Sea Farms, based in Biddeford. “Maine is the center of seaweed aquaculture in the US and seaweed week shows how proud our state is of the entire seaweed industry as a whole – both wild and farmed. Seeing the celebration around this climate-friendly food that can also help coastal communities adapt to a changing ocean is incredibly invigorating – and we love being part of the celebration with our restaurant partners!“ said Briana Warner, CEO of Atlantic Sea Farms.
There are several events coming up including a kickoff party at Oxbow Brewing Co., an Earth Day Film Festival featuring seaweed themed films at Maine Studio Works, a Kelp Beer Dinner at the Freeport Oyster Bar featuring Mast Landing Brewing Co., a Casco Bay kelp farm tour, a seaweed ID beach walk, and so much more. Check out the events page for a full list of Seaweed Week events.
The festival is being organized by Maine Sea Grant, the Maine Aquaculture Association, and Heritage Seaweed. Visit seaweedweek.org for a full list of participating restaurants, events, recipes, where to purchase local seaweed, and more.