seaweed slippery when wet

The tide is low on the Isle of Bute, off the west coast of

southern Scotland, and the only sound to be heard, apart

from the lapping of the waves, is the clear, piping call of the

oystercatchers overhead as a single figure wades into the water.

Iain McKellar of Bloom In Bute is out harvesting.

With a sharp knife he cuts the tops from fronds of sugar kelp

(Saccharina latissima) and Atlantic oarweed (Laminaria digitata),

and pulls them from the sea. Held up to the light, they are the

colour of olive oil, their texture somewhere between rubber and

silk. Sugar kelp’s frilly edges make it look like a ruffled scarf that

you might want to drape around your shoulders, especially

in Iain’s line of work: the weather is mild today but it’s not always

like this. ‘I have begun to wonder what I’ve got myself into here,’

laughs Iain, as he emerges from the water. ‘If the orders come

rolling in, I might regret my decision to start up this business

when I’m being blown off my feet by a north-westerly.’

Treasures of the deep

Sugar kelp and Atlantic oarweed are just two of the many edible,

nutrient-rich seaweeds found on British shores, along with laver,

dulse and carrageen. After cutting them, Iain packs and posts

the Bloom in Bute seaweed to customers from all over

the British Isles, who order from his website, Justseaweed.com.

He had the idea of harvesting seaweed during a spell off work,

when he was recuperating from a hernia operation. ‘I was stuck

inside, in a seafront flat for two months, and decided to teach

myself how to build a website – something I had always wanted

to do,’ Iain remembers. ‘All I could see from my window was

seaweed, so I made that the subject matter of the site and

the idea for a business just grew from there. The more research

I did, the more I discovered about seaweed’s many uses,

both for bathing and for eating.’

As well as the two edible varieties, Iain gathers two types of

bathing seaweed: knotted or egg wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum)

and bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus). Seaweed is naturally rich

in vitamins, minerals and trace elements. In hot water, it turns

a lovely spring green and releases a silky sort of gel into the

water. ‘It’s very relaxing,’ Iain says. ‘People use it for soothing the

symptoms of rheumatism, arthritis, psoriasis and eczema.

Theyalso like the softening effect it has on their skin and hair. When

they try it, they come back and order again.’

Although seaweed gathering has been popular for centuries

and is still practised in Ireland and Wales, Iain found very little

evidence of it being done in Scotland nowadays, except for its

use as fertiliser. ‘It seems to have all but died out and I don’t

understand why,’ he says. ‘Seaweed’s benefits are becoming

increasingly well known and this is a prime area for it. There

are fast-flowing currents of seawater rushing in from the deep

waters of the Sound of Arran twice a day and countless gallons

of fresh rainwater run down from the mountains into the Kyles

of Bute, so this is an ideal location. Fortunately for me, this is

a designated seafood fishing area, too, so I know the water is

pure because it is tested every three months by the Scottish

Environmental Protection Agency.’

Keeping seaweed sustainable

Iain has established cutting rights for a two-mile stretch of coast.

‘The Crown Estate owns the seabed, so I had to apply to it for

permission. I also consulted Bute Estates, which is responsible

for the area above the tide line. The impact I make is very low, as

I operate on a cottage-industry scale. I don’t use any machinery;

I cut by hand, and the quantities I gather by wading in are very

small in comparison with the quantities that are there. Also, I cut

only the tops of the seaweed so the rest is left to re-grow.’

Iain loves the tranquillity of the Isle of Bute. He was born here,

and although he grew up in Corby, Northamptonshire, later

working as an HGV driver there, he always came back to Bute for

holidays. ‘The island definitely has some kind of calling,’ he says.

It was a chance reading of a crime report in the local paper,

The Buteman, that prompted Iain and his wife Yvonne, who are in

their forties, to return permanently. ‘We grew tired of hearing police

helicopters circling overhead in Corby,’ Iain says. ‘Here, we read

a report of a lad leaving a fish and chip shop without paying and

we thought, “Hey, if that’s the extent of the front-page crime news,

that’s where we want to be. Why wait until we retire? Let’s go

now.”’ Yvonne now works as a supervisor in a local supermarket.

It’s early days for Bloom in Bute, but Iain hopes he has hit on

a winner. ‘It’s been a real buzz for me, setting up a business, and,

above all, I love living on this island. Out there at low tide, with the

peace and quiet, the sound of the birds… it’s a different world.’

Bloom in Bute (01700 500163, justseaweed.com).