Islanders on Tiree and Coll are objecting to plans to harvest sea kelp from west coast waters.
Ayr-based Marine Biopolymers Ltd (MBL) is applying to the Scottish Government for a five-year licence to ‘sustainably harvest wild kelp’, or Laminaria hyperborea, to extract natural polymers for uses in foods and pharmaceuticals, in seas inside the Western Isles from the Firth of Lorn to Stornoway.
MBL hopes to harvest up to 1,300 tonnes in wet weight the first year, rising to 29,800 tonnes in year five, the minimum required per year to be commercially viable. It also needs to yield at least 5kg per square metre, and these densities only occur close to shore.