Farming Today This Week: Seaweed

Charlotte Smith visits a marine lab at Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland to explore the UK's growing seaweed industry. According to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science - or Cefas - global production doubled between 2000 and 2014 to more than 28 million tonnes a year - worth about $6 billion.
In the UK most companies are small-scale, harvesting and drying by hand. But with growing demand comes growing pressure to cultivate more seaweed in a sustainable way. We ask what regulations should be put in place to make sure this happens; find out how larger-scale harvesting is carried out; and learn about some of the different species of this versatile crop.
Produced in Bristol by Sally Challoner.