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01/08/2020 07:22 AMThe state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) has tentatively approved a kelp farm to be constructed off the coast of Guilford between Leetes Island and Sachem’s Head.
First Selectman Matt Hoey said that various town officials have been in contact with DEEP and New England Sea Farms, the Ivoryton-based company that would build the farm, though Guilford does not have any direct say or power over the approval or design of the farm.
According to a release by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the proposed farm would consist of four, 500-foot lines of kelp spaced 20 feet apart, covering approximately five acres. Each line would be supported by 11 buoys. The lines would be installed over the course of a three-year period, and would be in place from Oct. 1 through May 30 every year.
Kelp grown at the farm will be used for culinary purposes and seeded with a state-approved, local source, according to the release.
As far as environmental impact, the release says that the farm will impact approximately 360 square feet of marine life habitat. According to the release, “a preliminary determination” has been made that the “site-specific adverse effect will not be substantial,” though more studies are still ongoing.
Guilford officials were not involved in any of those studies or assessments, according to Hoey.
Hoey told the Courier that town officials who reviewed the application and design of the farm, including Harbor Management Commission Chair John Thommen, Town Engineer Janice Plaziak, Harbormaster Fred Brisbois, Shellfish Commission Chair Bernad Lombardi, among others, were not in opposition to the project.
Hoey said that it was not clear at this point whether or not the town would benefit financially from farm through taxes, though he said usually Guilford does.
There are other, wider benefits to kelp farming, Hoey said, and although the farm is not a Guilford initiative, he said that hosting it is “evidence of sustainability efforts on the part of some folks.”
Kelp farms have an overall positive impact toward combating climate change, according to a 2017 National Geographic feature. Seaweed absorbs large amounts of carbon and stores if efficiently, and can also contribute to maintaining diversity of marine life as oceans struggle with acidification and deoxygenation.
Town officials had only two concerns, according to Hoey. It was important that buoy markers clearly indicate and warn boaters from crossing into the farm for safety reasons, he said. Timing was another concern, with town officials requesting that the lines and some buoys be removed by May 1 instead of May 30, according to a letter the town sent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The town had not heard back on these concerns at press time, according to Hoey.