Hi, Mike from Florida

[michael_doty]

I am interested in warm water marine polyculture and monetizing sargassum collection and processing. I am part of a project developing and building deep water platforms for permanent residential and commercial applications, arktide.org

[luke_purdy]

@michael_doty -

Hello Mike,

I've been following the sargassum super blooms that have been occurring over in your neck of the woods for a bit now. Drawing inspiration from the squid fisherman off the west coast I believe you could corral floating masses of the stuff with a shallow (maybe half a fathom deep) seine net, it could almost be like an oil spill boom. You could then haul the seine in without pursing the bottom, this would allow bycatch to escape. Once you have the seine sucked up next to the boat you could suck the kelp out with a fish sucker (basically a giant vacuum for fish). I'm sure there are plenty of uses for the stuff. Fertilizer comes to mind, but I hear that its a very nutritious food item as well.

Luke, 

[lindsay_olsen]

@michael_doty - Hi Mike, Arktide's website looks pretty interesting. I know there's a group working on Sargassum collection and uses through the ARPA-e Mariner project. Curious to hear what you find. Seems like there is a big opportunity there. 

[grace_collery]

Hi @michael_doty - you might also be interested in this pitch from a startup making bio-inspired bricks with sargassum and mycelium. 

[lindsay_olsen]

@michael_doty - Hi Mike, I just came across the Sargassum Hub, as mentioned in today's Phyconomy newsletter. Might be of interest to you.