Where Does Sea Moss Actually Come From?
Our gold sea moss comes from Tanzania. People hear that and nod, but most folks (honestly, most sellers) couldn't tell you what it actually means. So let's go there.
Where in Tanzania are we talking about?
Tanzania sits on the Indian Ocean coast of East Africa. Zanzibar, a small island group just offshore, is the main hub for the country's seaweed, and it's also grown along parts of the mainland coast. Pemba Island, one of the Zanzibar islands, sits roughly 60 kilometers (40 miles) off the mainland, with its neighbor Unguja to the south.
Wild or farmed? (The honest answer...)
Here's something a lot of sea moss brands skip. In the 1970s, some people in Zanzibar foraged and sold wild algae. Then in 1989, entrepreneurs brought seedlings over from the Philippines and started farming it on Pemba. Today the commercial algae industry there is built on farming, not on picking it off the rocks.
What does a seamoss farm look like? Rows of wooden stakes in shallow water, with lines of seaweed tied between them. Farms usually sit in a band about 400 to 600 meters (1,300 to 2,000 feet) from shore, in water less than 2 meters (6 feet) deep. Some farmers work in the intertidal zone, which is fully exposed at spring low tide. Others work in shallow water that stays covered, wading out when the tide drops.
Who grows it?
Thousands of farmers, and a lot of them are women. Seaweed farms are spread across more than 80 villages in Zanzibar, including more than 30 on Pemba, and the industry has grown into one of Tanzania's largest export industries. For coastal families it's income that doesn't need farmland or fertilizer.
What kind of seaweed is it?
Farmers there mainly grow two red seaweeds, Eucheuma and Kappaphycus, which you'll hear called spinosum and cottonii in the trade. Most of it is dried and exported for food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, where it's valued as a source of carrageenan. A growing number of Tanzanian producers are also making their own gels, soaps, and powders closer to home.
JÜGO's seamoss is one of the few sea moss suppliers that still offer wild-caught sea moss; despite farming still being a prominent method of cultivation.
The honest downsides
No farm is impact-free. Researchers have found that seaweed farming can reduce the health and biodiversity of seagrass meadows in some areas, and island farmers have also had to deal with warming water and seaweed disease. That's one more reason to care where your moss comes from, and to buy from people who ask these questions.
7 questions to ask any sea moss seller
Where was it grown or harvested (country and region)?
Is it wild-collected or farmed?
Which species is it?
What's in the gel? It should be sea moss and water, plus fruit pulp (NOT REAL FRUIT UNLESS CONSUMED WITHIN 3 DAYS OF PRODUCTION) or spices for flavors.
How was it cleaned and prepared?
How should I store it, and how long does it last?
Has it been tested for contaminants?
If a seller can't answer simple questions about their own product, that tells you something. And if a label says "wild-harvested" Tanzanian sea moss, it's fair to ask what that means, since so much of the supply there is farmed.
Come ask us!
I'd rather you ask me hard questions than buy from someone who dodges them. Come see us at JÜGO FRËSCO, 123 East Fayette Street in Baltimore, or order from the Supplements page. New to gel? Start with What Is Sea Moss Gel?
Source: A Seaweed Economy Tied to the Tides, NASA Earth Observatory.
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