The Rising Tide By John Boit The Blue Hill Peninsula Rockweed Forum recently sent The Rising Tide a video showcasing rockweed, the ubiquitous algae that looks like a plant and grows up and down the coast of Maine. The Rockweed Forum was founded by ... Read More
Scientific
Local scientists raise concerns about commercial rockweed harvesting (12/2/25)
Article in the Mount Desert Islander Local scientists raise concerns about commercial rockweed harvesting By Rebecca Alley Dec 2, 2025 BLUE HILL PENINSULA — Local scientists are raising concerns about the lack of research regarding the ... Read More
Letter: Effects of prolonged rockweed harvesting are not well studied (11/25/25)
Published in The Rising Tide: By David Porter and Allison Snow - In a scientific review article published this month in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering–and for which we were both among its co-authors–biologists working in Maine ... Read More
Stronger regulations needed for rockweed harvesting (10/29/24)
The following letter was submitted to the Portland Press Herald from David Porter and Allison Snow. "We are writing in response to the Oct. 15 letter by Jake Patryn, Acadian Seaplants’ director of operations in Maine (“Rockweed industry backs ... Read More
Quoddy Tides, “Paper disputes rockweed recovery claim” (4/26/24)
"The new paper asserts that the previous 2023 study was critically flawed, that the data in the study do not show that rockweed recovers within one year's time, and that the previous paper should not be used to determine Maine's marine ... Read More
The Working Waterfront, “Rockweed study not accurately explained” (2/1/24)
This Op-Ed by David Porter provides more context for the University of Maine study and the university's press release: Rockweed is a slow-growing, wild seaweed on the rocky coast of Maine. It is highly valued as a commercial fertilizer and debates ... Read More
Letter in the Ellsworth American, “The Truth About Rockweed” (12/14/23)
David Porter, of Brooklin, describes misleading publicity about a recent scientific paper published by researchers at the University of Maine and the Maine Maritime ... Read More