Seaweed
Seaweed or macroalgae refers to several species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of red, brown, and green macroalgae. Marine algae species such as kelps provide essential nursery habitat for fisheries and other marine species and thus protect food sources; ocean algae species from seaweeds to planktons play a vital role in carbon capture, producing up to 90 percent of the planet's oxygen. Understanding these roles provides guiding principles for conservation and sustainable use of seaweeds to take precedence over industrial exploitation. Mechanical dredging of kelp, for instance, destroys the resource and dependent fisheries. Certain species of seaweed are valuable for nutrition, biomedicine, bioremediation, and other uses.
Alaria (alga)
In Ireland, Scotland, Greenland, Iceland, Denmark, and the Faroe Islands, the midrib is removed, and the blade and sometimes the leaflets are eaten, although it is not commercially available. It is more commonly eaten in the Far East (China, Japan, and Korea), where seaweed consumption is much more popular than in the West. Seaweeds are considered to be highly nutritious, because typically they are low in fat, and have vitamins and minerals in amounts comparable or superior to terrestrial vegetables. "Alaria esculenta", in particular, is an excellent source of protein and iodine.