SEAWEED HARVEST SPAWNS TALKS.

Byline: Winston Ross The Register-Guard

FLORENCE - The Oregon Coast's next bumper crop could be seaweed.

Coveted by naturalists for its mineral content and pressed by artists into all sorts of designs, the marine plants could fetch coastal collectors millions of dollars per year, Williams resident James Jungwirth says.

Jungwirth has been yanking seaweed from rocky intertidal areas on the coast since 1989 and selling it in a mail-order business, www.naturespiritherbs.com. In 1995, worried that his work might be falling outside the bounds of what's allowed as "personal harvest" in state code, he applied for Oregon's first commercial permit.

He didn't get it. The nonprofit Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition opposed commercial seaweed harvest, saying more information was needed about what impact it could have, not just on the seaweed itself but the ecosystem that thrives on it.

The state Parks and Recreation Commission heeded the group's concerns but granted Jungwirth an "experimental" permit and tied a research study to the work, to figure out whether the harvest is sustainable.

Now Jungwirth is back, asking the commission to renew his permit and spurring a discussion about whether Oregon should allow commercial seaweed harvesting.

State officials are considering whether to enact regulations that would govern and make it legal, not just for him but for others who have also inquired.

Jungwirth says the stress on the environment is minuscule and the benefits to human health are huge.

"Seaweed is one of the most nutritionally and therapeutically valuable foods we have on this earth," Jungwirth says.

The coast offers dozens of seaweed varieties.

There's kombu, loaded with iodine; nori, a protein source often used to wrap sushi; kelp fronds, rich in potassium and bladderwrack tips, with a long history of treating underactive thyroids.

Native Americans have been using seaweeds and kelps along the west coast for food, basket weaving, ceremonies and to build fishing gear. Members of the Siletz tribe gather on rooftops and dry seaweed in sheets or cakes for use as food.

Traditionally, they were dipped in rendered fish or sea mammal oils. Now they're doused in melted lard or butter.

Seaweed is harvested commercially in 35 countries worldwide, bringing in an estimated $5 billion to $6 billion for medicinal uses, as gelling and thickening agents or in cosmetics and fertilizer, according to a report prepared for the state by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration coastal management fellow Laurel Hillmann.

Local retailers have to import the high-demand product, said Chang Park, owner of the Sunrise Asian Food Market in Eugene. Most popular is nori, he said.

"There's no seaweed product in Oregon," Park said. "If it were happening in Oregon, we would buy it."

Commercial harvesting is banned in Washington but allowed in California. Oregon's law is ambiguous. It forbids harvest from state-owned submerged lands without a lease unless the harvester is removing less than 2,000 pounds of kelp each year for "human consumption," an undefined term.

Jungwirth harvests wakame, a wing kelp, by cutting the "tatters" off the tip of the plant, leaving six inches at the base of the frond so it continues to grow. In this way, and by taking no more than 25 percent of the plant from any particular area, Jungwirth says the practice doesn't hurt the environment.

"With hand-harvesting, using the methods we use, I've yet to see an impact," Jungwirth said.

The state report found that some populations of a sensitive seaweed species called sea palm have gone locally extinct in some spots along the north coast in the past 20 years, potentially a result of illegal overharvesting.

Hillmann's report recommended against allowing marine plants to be harvested in marine gardens, habitat refuges or research reserves. She also recommended that no mechanical harvests be allowed nor any permits that would pave the way for driving on the beach.

Commercial permits should be granted only after a species inventory of the site, and with a specific harvest plan, Hillmann advised.

Oregon Shores' Coastwatch director, Phillip Johnson, agreed that Jungwirth's work is responsible. But he's concerned about what happens when others are allowed to follow in his bootsteps.

"We would certainly want to avoid large-scale, commercial harvesting," Johnson said. "We want to know the impact of taking 'x' amount on the whole suite of organisms that live within and feed upon the seaweed."

In the meantime, it's Jungwirth and his customers feeding on seaweed - and licking their chops for more.

SEAWEED State regulators are considering whether to allow commercial seaweed harvesting for the first time. Among the types found on the Oregon Coast: nori: used to wrap seaweed; rich in protein kombu: a good source of iodine kelp fronds: a good source of potassium bladderwrack tips: used to treat underactive thyroids

Winston Ross can be reached at [phone] or rgcoast@oregon fast.net.