Fucus harvesting insights
Fucus vesiculosus is a brown seaweed typically found along sheltered coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. Commonly known as bladderwrack, Fucus vesiculosus is known for its branching fronds with prominent midrib and conspicuous bladder-like floats. These almost-spherical air sacs support the seaweed to float high in the water, ensuring access to ample sunlight for photosynthesis. When conditions are favourable, Fucus can occur in high densities, forming a dense carpet on the shoreline. Blades of Fucus can grow over 0.5 cm each week eventually reaching sizes of up to 2 m over their five-year life span.
Marinova sources wild Fucus vesiculosus, carefully hand-harvested from the clean ocean waters of Nova Scotia in Canada. All harvesting occurs on an environmentally sustainable basis, enabling the robust regrowth of this rapidly renewable marine resource. Using small boats to traverse the shoreline, harvesters utilise modified rakes to gather the seaweed. Once back on land, the fresh seaweed is sun-dried to preserve its bioactive compounds, including fucoidan. The short video clip below features an experienced Fucus harvester at work on the Nova Scotian coast.
The potential health benefits of Fucus vesiculosus fucoidan are well reported in scientific literature. Interestingly, Professor Harald Kylin, the Swedish chemist who first isolated and described fucoidan in 1913, focused many of his early studies on Fucus vesiculosus fucoidan. The very first commercial fucoidan extracts available on the Western market were also derived from this species.