Golden Kelp: how to identify and collect edible seaweeds
“Experiencing the beach isn’t just swimming between the flags and eating a Calippo on the way home”
There is something magical about the feeling of connection.
Via simple engagements with your ecology you enact an ancient ritual of care. By getting to know the plants of your locale you expose yourself to a process of belonging. You become a stakeholder and from there you nurture your role as caretaker.
A great example at that is collecting seaweeds, for food, garden compost and more. The vast majority of Australians live within 100km of the shore, making us a continent of sea-loving creatures and never too far form a beach.
Walking on the beach collecting seashells and playing with seaweed is in everyone’s childhood memories. So let’s start from there, from that memory, to talk about this week’s edible seaweed: Golden kelp- Ecklonia radiata.
A good friend and co-instructor in the Seaside Foraging Workshops that I offer in Sydney, Oliver, says that an outing at the beach should be more than a dip in the water, we should cultivate the curiosity that we had as kids, entertained for hours around a rock pool and compelled to collect small bags of shell fragments (that eventually started to smell in the closet at home to the despair of your parents).
These discovery sessions are quite important in informing how we value and appreciate nature and natural processes. As D. Sobel writes in Beyond ecophobia: Reclaiming the heart in nature education. (1996), "What's important is that children have an opportunity to bond with the natural world, to learn to love it, before being asked to heal its wounds"
So here it is, all hail golden kelp as an avenue for simple engagements, we learn how to inhabit, care and respect. Take your kids out, or take out the kid within you, go for a walk by the beach. There you will find kelp.
IDENTIFICATION
Golden kelp is a large brown to golden-brown seaweeds up to 1.5 meters long, with frilled fronds (lateral lamina) branching out from a flat wide stem (central lamina). The stem (stipe) is rounded and at the base has a holdfast that looks like the rooting part of a tree. This is not technically a root, but and anchoring device for the seaweed to hold steady on the rocks underwater.
Where and how to harvest Golden Kelp. Golden kelp can be found all around Australia, south of the Tropic of Capricorn- Rockhampton- (see map below). You will find it in big piles after big seas, mixed up with debris and other seaweeds on the beach.
Timing. In my opinion, the best time to harvest golden kelp is just after high tide, as the sea recedes and leaves behind the fresh kelp. The kelp is still alive when floating in water, insofar it does not need the ‘roots’ to feed itself, as it absorbs nutrients from its walls. So when you collect it as soon as it gets deposited on the beach it is effectively as fresh as it can be. Kelp will not stay fresh forever, and that’s why I collect it immediately after high tide, to minimise the time the seaweed sits in the sun rotting away.
The best time to harvest kelp is in spring and autumn, when they grow the most, but you can effectively find beach cast kelp all year round.
Please note that it is best to collect seaweeds when they have naturally dislodged from their place on the seafloor. This is to make sure of the least possible disturbance to the habitat that the kelp ‘forests’ provide for marine ecologies.
That said, the big piles of kelp on the beach are ALSO an important habitat for marine ecologies so it is advised to only ever collect in small amounts and from different places.
IMPORTANT> Do not harvest from polluted waters so check that the location you intend to harvest from is actually a clean location. Your local council can help with that information.
LEGALITIES AND ETHICS
It is important to familiarise yourself with what you can do, before doing it. You are allowed to harvest beach cast kelp for personal use in most states of Australia, but regulations change from state to state.
New South Wales It is legal to collect up to 20kg of beach-cast seaweed per day for personal use without the need for a permit. Harvesting is not allowed in Aquatic Reserves and protected areas. Further details here>
Victoria It is legal to collect small amounts of beach cast seaweed for personal use, but local council offices need to be contacted prior to collections. Harvesting is not allowed in Marine Parks and other protected areas.
More information here>
South Australia There are currently no limits to the amount of seaweed that can be collected for personal use from above high water mark and beyond two meters depth of water. Inside that zone, it is illegal to touch anything. New regulations are underway.
Western Australia There are no restrictions, no license or authorization is required in regard to beach cast seaweed as long as it is not being removed from a marine reserve. See here for more details>
Tasmania No license is required when less than 100 kg a day per person of beach-cast seaweed is collected for personal use. Harvesting is not allowed in Marine Parks and other protected areas.
See here for further details >
Queensland and Northern Territory. I could not find any information about restrictions or regulation in regards to harvesting sea cast seaweeds. Check with your local council.
Image from Australian Living Atlas https://bie.ala.org.au/
All of the above regulations are designed to protect natural habitat and their ecologies, which brings us to ethics.
Seaweeds are important elements of marine ecosystems and are at the lower level of much of the marine food web. They are important when they are alive in the water but also when they are decaying on the beach. Fish, birds, snails, crabs, and marine mammals use kelp beds for refuge, feeding, spawning and nursery grounds.
Kelp beds trap sediments on the shore but also disperse wave energy and turbulence protecting beaches from erosion. For this reason it is advisable not to harvest seaweed from the sea, but rather wait until it floats free.
Even then, when you harvest from a beach cast pile of kelp, you are interfering with the habitat of a number of other organisms, including birds, crabs and more.
There are amazing narratives of cohabitation and resilience unfolding on a beach.
Collecting a bag of kelp will allow you to appreciate this resource and hopefully instigate the kid in you, building long-lasting positive experiences that I hope will steer your ethical compass in the right direction.
GOLDEN KELP AS FOOD
I love golden kelp in pickles and here I share a recipe that I use for it. Simple, universal, god for a number of seaweeds, yummy.
It is never the same, the spices change, the vinegar sometimes is more, sometimes is less. At times I also put a teaspoon of sugar in with.
This below is just a guide, make it your own.
SEAWEED PICKLE RECIPE
2 clumps of golden kelp
4 cups water
1 cup of white vinegar
Spices to season like coriander seeds, black peppercorns and salt
Method:
Cut off the frilly bits from your kelp to leave only the central midribs.
Bring 3 cups of water to boil then add the kelp for about a minute.
Once cool enough to handle, trim the blanched seaweed into matchstick or fettuccine-width pieces and place inside a sterilised jar
Bring to boil 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water
Add a couple of pinches of salt, a few black peppercorns and a pinch each your spices.
Pour the hot pickling fluid into the jar making sure all the seaweed is covered.
Store in a cool, dark place for several months, then keep in the fridge once open.
HOW TO PRESERVE
Thanks Craig!
DRYING KELP - Take your collected kelp and rinse all the sand off in a bucket or sink of cold water.
You can then leave to hang on your clothesline. When fully dry you can chop it up and store in airtight containers for later use.
MARINATE
Prepare a large pot of boiling water. Put the seaweed in to blanch, it takes 10-30 seconds, that's all, it will turn bright green.
Separate the stem from the fronds.
Cut stem into long strips like noodles, the stem is firmer than the fronds and makes a great texture combo fried with noodles.
Cut the fronds into small squares, these parts are softer and go well on soups, salads or stir-fries.
I put all blanched seaweed in a marinade, which is basically oil, something salty, something sweet, and something sour.
A common one I use is:
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar (lemons also good)
2 tablespoons mushroom soy sauce
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Keep in the fridge until all eaten- Yum
AND MORE
Beach cast seaweeds can be so much more than the chance to make a pickle. They are excellent in the garden as fertilisers, just wash in a bucket of water and put straight into the compost. Or pile on top a garden bed set to rest for the season. It will break down and bring plenty of minerals to your garden.
Seaweeds are now being investigated as an environmentally efficient way to grow food, as they need no dirt, nor freshwater to grow. By introducing seaweeds in your diet you are slowly participating in the shift toward more sustainable ways to consume.
Lastly, many councils regularly comb the beaches and dispose of tonnes of organic matter - seaweeds.
By harvesting from your local beach you are effectively diverting organic matter from the tip. So yeah, do the environment a favour, go and make some seaweed pickles.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Buy EAT WEEDS- A filed guide to foraging; Get a personalised copy here>
Have a look at this video here, when Oliver Brown takes Costa Georgiadis from Gardening Australia out for a walk by the beach>
The fancy version of the seaweed pickle is here>
Milkwood blog on harvesting+drying seaweed is extremely well researched>
Why a village in Japan is famous for the longevity of its inhabitant? Read on>
Based in southern NSW Sea Health Products commercially harvest golden kelp to supply a growing industry.
Mark Williams is a man on a mission, from Scotland he presents excellent material for everyone to enjoy and learn from, including seaweeds>
An excellent collection of information and Identification features of a number of seaweeds from South Australia
This link if you love to read recipes>
A newsletter from the Seaweeds Australia cluster at the University of Wollongong. Lots of information and legalities>
Distribution map of Golden kelp>
Yay for (sea)weeds!