Sea urchins love to dine on kelp. With that in mind, millions of kelp spores were strung in the waters off of Bayville and the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard November 20. At the forefront of this kelp project is fisheries biologist Schuyler Belle, who is working with the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center (MAIC) and the Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research (CCAR).

Belle, who has a master's degree in marine bioresources, co-wrote a grant to the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center (MAIC) in September of 2011 for growing kelp at three sites in Boothbay and to get the kelp trimmings from Ocean Approved in Portland. This new kelp is being grown for food and research.

After harvesting the kelp, Ocean Approved will give Belle and MAIC the trimmings (unusable portions of the kelp frond) to feed sea urchins. Urchins will be tested afterward to check levels of nitrogen.

In April 2011 by the Boothbay Harbor Sewer District (BHSD) conducted their own kelp experiments at the same two sites now in use by Belle’s team. The district was exploring the potential of kelp in the wastewater treatment process; the plant would theoretically absorb nitrogen expelled in the wastewater in overboard discharge areas, a process known as bioremediation. Unfortunately, April was not the best time to grow a marine plant that prefers cold water and cold weather.

Belle went out to pull the moorings/anchors from the BHSD's test sites the last weekend of October.

The kelp spores strung in Boothbay November 20 are from Ocean Approved in Portland. Belle, Chris Higgins of the BHSD, and Thor Belle (Belle's son, a fisheries biology student at the University of New Hampshire), aboard Kelo Pinkham's Jeannie C, strung kelp spores in the waters of Boothbay Harbor.

The spores, which look like a brown stain, are on 280 feet of marine twine and wrapped around a piece of PVC pipe. These spores are expected to grow into 6 to 7 foot long fronds.

The sewer district will monitor the kelp's growth rate for future bioremediation (the use of microorganisms to help solve environmental issues) projects.

“We will monitor growth rate, hole punch leaves and take water samples at the same time to record nitrogen absorption levels by the kelp and analyze the water to check ammonia and phosphorus levels,” Higgins said. “This is the optimal time to do this – not April like [BHSD] did in 2011 … I don't think the kelp will see much ammonia; it will be very diluted.” Higgins said.

“The idea,” Belle said, “is to use what Ocean Approved can't use; to utilize the leftover material …. We'll compare how the urchins are affected by the kelp grown at the two sites.

“There is a lot of potential here; this is just the beginning.”