VALUABLE SEAWEED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 29, 16 May 1947, Page 2

VALUABLE SEAWEED

N.Z. EXPORT INDUSTRY POSSIBILITIES OF CARAGEEN The product of seaweed collected from parts of the New Zealand coast is now an article of export, and there are greater possibilities in the future, states a Wellington news article.

This new industry owes its inception to the knowledge and enterprise of the botany division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

It stated with the serious emergency created when Japan came into the war and automatically cut off practically the world’s supply of agar. This is a colourless jelly used for bacterial culture and is an' essential in all laboratories.

The delicate fan-like seaweed from which agar is extracted grows off the coast of the North Island in fairly warm areas, and the department effectively organised its collection. The Maori people near Hokianga were the pioneers in the business, and it was soon taken up in the East Cape district, i Production of Agar

The dried seaweed was 'Sent to a South Island factory where agar production was commenced. Impurities had been extracted by the Japanese by freezing involving the cumbersome process of taking it into high altitudes. New Zealand’s well developed refrigeration system provided a more workable alternative.

The industry has not been allowed to languish because the war demand is over. On the contrary, production has expanded, and an officer of the Internal Marketing Division organised seaweed collection to the south of East Cape, and a number of full-time, workers are employed in the vicinity of Cape Kidnappers. The annual production is now estimated to be about 23 tons of agar—an impressive total in view of the value of this product. New Zealand requires.about a quarter of the supply, and the remainder is being regularly exported to Britain, America, India and South Africa. South Island Carageen Another seaweed valuable for industrial purposes is carageen, popularly known as Irish moss. The main source of supply in New Zealand is Stewart coastal waters of the mainland in that- vicinity, and parts of the Wellington coast. The product, which is turned out by another South Island manufacturer, is mainly used in domestic cooking. During the war, Australia secured its requirements from New Zealand. Rival sources of production are now available, but there is still a possibility of developing an export trade, as there are reports that the product of carageen can be utilised in the manufacture of ultra lightweight woollen fabrics. These cannot be woven without the addition of a light fibre which can subsequently be dissolved out of the weave, leaving the woollen fabric which, according to Dr. Edgar Booth chairman of the International Wool Secretariat, weighs as little as 2oz. per yard.

Carageen is' said to be a likely source of the alginates needed 'in this synthetic weaving process, but as this seaweed is found in many parts of the world, much will depend on the cost of production if New Zealand is to develop an export business.