Regeneration & Resilience

Wakame:
From Aquatic Pest to Linchpin of a Regenerative Food System

How Uzushio Shokuhin is working to turn one of the world’s most invasive species into a nutritional powerhouse for people, animals and oceans alike.

Sponsored Content | This article is sponsored by SUSCOM | By SUSCOM | Published 4 months ago | About a 5 minute read

Image: Freepik

Wakame seaweed — a familiar ingredient in Japanese cuisine — is a harmful aquatic plant that proliferates rapidly at beaches and fishing ports around the world; it has been named one of the world’s 100 worst invasive species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

Traditionally, few cultures outside of Japan, Korea and China consume wakame. Yet the many benefits of seaweed are starting to be recognized — as the basis for sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel-based products including plastic, animal feed and fuel; and as part of a growing focus on marine plants for mineral-rich nutrition in the face of a deepening global food crisis caused in part by climate change.

Here, we introduce Uzushio Shokuhin, YK — a wakame producer on a quest to show the world the nutritional and culinary benefits of wakame, and to unlock the broader potential of this destructive yet delicious seaweed.

From Japan to France, and back again

seaweed harvest Image credit: wirestock_creators

One region where wakame has exploded as an invasive species is Brittany, France. Around 50 years ago, all of Brittany’s oysters were nearly wiped out by an infectious disease. Juvenile shellfish were imported from Japan, but they brought along wakame spores, and the seaweed soon became an aquatic nuisance.

Then, a local company, Algolesko, decided to turn that problem plant into a nutrient-rich source. Algolesko began farming high-quality wakame in the rich waters of the Bay of Biscay, a designated nature preserve; yet it had issues with the processing technology required to ship the fresh seaweed.

Uzushio Shokuhin president Hiroki Goto recalled his first visit to the Brittany seaweed farms as part of his research to discover opportunities for exporting wakame overseas.

“As soon as they pulled wakame out of the water at the Algolesko farm, I thought, ‘What is this!’ Incredibly high-quality wakame just kept coming and coming,” he says. “For about 30 years, I had been hearing about wakame in France, but I had no idea it was of that level. It was remarkable. Then, I was also surprised to find that they were storing this high-quality wakame just by salting it — that method hadn’t been used in Japan for over 50 years. And to be honest, it doesn’t produce delicious wakame. I thought it was an enormous waste. It made me realize that we’d never get more people to eat it, and that exports wouldn’t succeed, until we first showed people how delicious it is.”

In 2022, Uzushio Shokuhin and Algolesko entered into a technical support agreement that enabled the Brittany region to produce seaweed that is both delicious and retains its vibrant color. Thanks in part to this, wakame and kelp produced in Brittany are now ingredients that are hailed by French chefs, too.

The next step in promoting wakame as a food, Goto said, is developing new recipes and preparation methods for it. Even in Japan, wakame tends to be used in limited ways — such as in miso soups, salads and pickled dishes. Goto hopes that introducing it into an unfamiliar culinary culture could give rise to completely new recipes and ways of eating it, and that “reverse-importing” those newfound possibilities back into Japan could also boost its domestic consumption and help revitalize the wakame industry.

Nutritional benefits for people, animals and oceans alike

Algolesko wakame pickles Algolesko's Wakame Pickles won a grand prize at the 2024 Seafood Excellence Global Awards | Image credit: Algolesko

Uzushio Shokuhin is also pursuing the potential in non-food uses for wakame in order to make the industry more sustainable.

Thanks to environmental protection measures, water quality in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea has improved after being heavily polluted in the 1960s and ‘70s. Yet while the waters have become clearer, there has been a decline in nitrate — one of the ocean’s three primary nutrients — a deficiency that makes it difficult for phytoplankton to grow, which reduces the ocean’s ability to store carbon. One way to address this problem is to regenerate soil through land-based livestock and agriculture farming, and create a mechanism for soil nutrients to flow out into the sea.

For this process, Uzushio Shokuhin developed animal feed made by fermenting wakame holdfasts — the root-like part of the plant. Feeding this to pigs has been proven to improve feed efficiency and reduce susceptibility to disease. What’s more, the manure from these pigs becomes high-quality, organic fertilizer that can be sprinkled on fields to nurture crops and improve soil fertility. The nutrients from this fertile soil are then directed into the sea, helping to boost marine ecosystem biodiversity — including the growth of wakame and other seaweeds.

“When it comes to using livestock and agriculture to benefit the fisheries industry, Europe is more advanced. Speaking to farmers in France, I was really impressed by their level of awareness and broad vision,” Goto said. “I want us to also engage in this new challenge, taking a cue from all the different initiatives in Japan and around the world, so that this land continues to provide food even 100 years in the future.”

Whether it’s helping improve global food security or contributing to a regenerative value chain for primary-sector industries, the sustainability potential of wakame continues to proliferate.