Firm warns ban on kelp harvesting would see Scotland miss out on £300m industry

Scotland could lose out on a £300 million industry if MSPs vote to ban the industrial harvesting of kelp in its waters, company bosses have claimed.

Ayr-based Marine Biopolymers wants to harvest 30,000 tonnes of kelp off the west coast before using a revolutionary process it has developed to create a product which could be used to make “invisible armour” or slow release cancer drugs.

The nanocellulose it produces from the seaweed is the “best in the world”, it claims, and could have a whole host of possible applications - including an alternative to the vaginal mesh implants which have left some women in crippling pain.

But this hi-tech new industry, which MBL estimates could be worth £300 million a year to Scotland's economy, will be halted if MSPs pass new legislation that bans dredging for kelp.

After more than 14,000 people signed a petition against such dredging, Green MSP Mark Ruskell successfully amended the Scottish Crown Estate Bill to ban the removal of entire kelp plants.

Veteran naturalist Sir David Attenborough has also spoken out in support, saying it is “absolutely imperative that we protect our kelp forests”.

But MBL co-founder David Mackie insisted its plans to harvest the seaweed laminaria hyperborea are “entirely sustainable” - pointing out there is an estimated 20 million tonnes of it in Scotland's waters.

The kelp, which he described as “the daddy of the seaweeds in Scottish waters”, grows up to 8ft long, with the plants attaching themselves to rocky surfaces

He said: “People say we intend to dredge. Well you can't dredge a rocky bottom, so we're not doing that.”

He insisted the seaweed is “really abundant” in Scottish waters, adding that its special properties come from the “tough conditions” it is subjected to as it is battered by underwater currents.

As MBL developed its processes to remove alginate from the seaweed, it found marine cellulose was also produced.

Mark Dorris, a senior research fellow and lecturer in material science at Edinburgh's Napier University, has been working with that to create new bioplastic materials, the starting point of which are fibres which are 1,000th of the width of a human hair.

Wood pulp is already used to produce nanocellulose, but Dr Dorris said when kelp is used the end result is “better than any nanocellulose in the world” - with it also being produced using a more environmentally friendly process, without harsh chemicals and cutting CO2 outputs by 80%.

This raw product can be turned into bioplastics to be used in food packaging for products such as sandwiches and ready meals, but work has also been taking place with the Ministry of Defence to develop a “transparent armour” which could be used for helmet visors and body shields by police and the armed services.

Unlike existing products, these do not go cloudy after impact, and will “actually even have aspects of self-repair”, the scientist said.

The nanocellulose could also be used to develop slow release drugs for treating colon cancer, as well as to help conserve fragile, historic documents and artefacts.

Dr Dorris said: “There's loads of applications for this, medical implants, meshes. This stuff, because it is made from seaweed, is biocompatible, the wood cellulose isn't.”

But Mr Mackie said he fears plans to develop such products could be halted if MSPs vote through the legislation as it currently stands on November 21.

He said: “We worked long and hard to develop our process, basically we have turned the whole alginate processing upside down, to get to what is absolutely unique, nobody else does it.

“We've got this brilliant raw material, we do a wee bit of magic with it.

“This is the thing I am most proud of that we have done, and when I see what these guys can do it is just incredible.”

He added: “We are entirely sustainable, we would not in any way endanger the natural processes.”

Dr Dorris added: “Not only is it sustainable, we're reducing energy demands, we're reducing toxic waste.

“I would ask and expect the green lobby to get right behind it - this is a green technology, it is a green project and it will be worth an awful lot of money to the Scottish economy.

“It is estimated in five years' time the global market for nanocellulose will be a billion dollar industry, and it's a simple stark choice - either we lead the world or other people do it and we chip in from the sidelines."