Fresh kelp.... is it safe to feed ?

[debzratties]

I know a lot of people add dried kelp pieces to their mix but it's never crossed my mind until now whether it would be safe to feed the fresh stuff to our girls. My oh's always moaning about getting his fishing line snagged on kelp when fishing so thought he could bring some home, i'm just not sure if I would need to do anything to it before using it
or even if it's suitable to feed.

Debz

[acapae_wolf]

Yes, but ID the seaweed first. Most of what is found on British shores is edible, but some isn't, so it's wise to double check like with other plants.
I tend to just rinse in fresh water - you can steam/ boil it too. Acquired taste though, so they may not like it initially

[MarieM]

It is advisable to make sure the water you fish it out is exceptionally clean as well.

[acapae_wolf]

Heh yes, I was assuming people would take that for granted. But you're probably right that it should be pointed out just in case

[debzratties]

Thanks for the info, toxins and things are what I was wondering about. Apparently the sea and beaches are very clean around
here, they normally get quality coast and Blue flag awards but i'm not sure if that would make much difference to toxins and things in the sea,
also he normally fishes off the end of the piers rather than from the beach, I know it's the same water but does it make any difference ?
Also is it just the leaves that should be used ?

I usually find most things that my girls don't like, get eaten once they've been covered in salmon oil
and copious amounts of garlic, well everything apart from avocado

Debz

[rattypetrolhead]

I'd probably go for the frond (the leaf part) rather than the stipe (the stalk), just cos it'll be easier to clean of anything growing on the outside (such as other seaweeds or animals), but both should be edible. Kelps are brown seaweeds and have large, long, flat fronds, with round stipes; wracks are green seaweeds that have lots of 'branches' and include things like bladder wrack etc. If the stuff getting snagged on the fishing line is brownish and almost translucent then it's most likely to be a kelp as they usually grow below the low tide level, although can be uncovered on really low spring tides. In case you were wondering I work in marine-ish work, albeit at a desk I'm dredging this up from my uni days when I actually got out in the field...

Like Beri says, it may be easier to steam or cook them slightly just to make them more palatable, plus it'll kill any potential nasties too. If the beaches have a blue flag then the water quality is quite high, but it's always best to be on the safe side and soak/rinse properly and cook if you're extra paranoid. For identifying them, if you don't have a book to hand use the MarLin website, it's really useful

Just to add, the seaweed I've bought from RR has mainly been dried bladder wrack.

P.S. Sorry for the work waffle

[acapae_wolf]

No no, don't apologise! I like learning random seaweed type info

[MarieM]

I reckon that the quality for bathing is much different to actually having the water tested for harvesting seaweed for human consumption. My brother and his friend harvest seaweed for a living. His site is www.justseaweed.co.uk You might be able to get some info from it. The water needs to be very pure.