Galway Bay fm newsroom - There has been another increase in the price paid to seaweed harvesters in Connemara following intense competition between buyers.
The latest increase brings the price per tonne of seaweed to almost €60 per tonne - that is 50% up on the price being paid a few years ago.
The feamainn bhuí - the yellow seaweed of the foreshore - has been valuable over the centuries on the Connemara coastline.
Widely used as a fertilizer during the times of subsistence farming it has also been the basis for a long standing industry.
Until recent years harvesters were paid somewhere between €35 and €40 per tonne.
Now there is competition among buyers; the latest jump sees some companies paying up to €60 per tonne.
Arramara Teo., owned by Canadian company Acadian Sea Plants,has been one of the main players in the industry for decades.
A company based in Ballyhaunis with markets in China is now buying in Connemara with a company in Donegal also taking some tonnage.
