Kelp

see also: Etymology of Kelp

The kelp (of the Old norrois vagrek , stray), also called goémon stray (of Breton the gouesmon , Phaeophyceae) in Brittany and Normandy, is consisted an unspecified mixture of Brown algas, red or green, left by the withdrawal of the Marée S, and which one collects along the maritime coasts, in particular in Brittany, primarily with the use of Engrais. This activity of harvest is carried out by the farmers of the littoral communes. It should not be confused with harvest by cut or pulling up carried out by the Goémonier S, registered sailor having a specific license, to feed the industry of the algae.

The kelp is composed primarily of Algue S of Phaeophyceae , or Brown algas, such:

laminar S, of the Laminaria , the Laminariales
the Wrack, of the kind Wrack , order of the Fucales
the Ascophyllum, of the kind Ascophyllum , order of the Fucales

It is mainly made up of Bladderwrack, a brown alga, which one extracted from the “soda”, intended for the manufacture of glass, at the 18th century by making it dry then to burn. This outlet was dried up as from 1790 with the invention by Nicolas Leblanc of a process of production of the sodium carbonate starting from the Sea salt. One should not confuse this soda ( kali or alkali ) with the product (also named " soude" by the goémoniers) of the cooking of laminar used first third of the 19th century at the beginning of the 20th century to produce iodine. This outlet quickly was in competition with iodine extracts from nitrates of Chile.

One finds Fours with goémon on most of the coasts of the Finistere. The harvest of the goémon started seriously after the storms of April. The collection did not require a specialized material, the goémon had gone up on the shore and then spread out to make it dry. The dry algae were burned in a strong heat, thrown by small handles during several days. A kind of lava settled at the bottom of the pit and the men armed with the Pifon stirred up the layer of goémon for doing best to burn. With heat, the iodine contained in the algae evaporated. They let cool and using the pifon, they released the “ breads of the sea ”. These soda breads were carried towards factories and were used in the manufacturing process of certain medical products and for photography.

See too

right of kelp

External bond

School of the Island of Batz: File on the goémon very well documented prepared by the high ones

Simple: Seaweed

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