Alaria esculenta, also known as Atlantic wakame, grows in thick beds on low surf-battered ledges. It’s the most challenging seaweed to harvest, and our personal favorite. We harvest only the tender first year plants in the annual zone, leaving the deeper perennial plants to replenish the ledges with their spores.

Alaria is rich in calcium, among other minerals, and contains a broad spectrum of vitamins – especially vitamin A and the B vitamins. Unlike Japanese wakame, which is often blanched, Alaria is dried in the sun in its natural state. Alaria’s delicate dark green leaf is delicious and beautiful in soups, salads and stir fries.

Ironbound Island Seaweed is dedicated to the sustainable harvesting of wild seaweeds from the cold, clean waters of the Schoodic Peninsula and surrounding islands of eastern Maine.