On King Island, Bull Kelp collectors — or “kelpers” — are witnessing a worrying decline in the amount of kelp washing ashore, threatening a once-thriving local industry vital to the island’s economy. Traditionally collected for alginate extraction used in products from food to cosmetics, bull kelp is only legally harvested once washed up on shore, making the reduced supply a major concern for kelpers like Joseph Daniel, who says it now feels like “a forest that’s been cut down.”

Local PhD candidate Debbi Delaney and IMAS seaweed biologist Jeff Wright are leading research efforts to understand what’s causing the decline — potentially linked to climate change — and what it means for both the community and marine ecosystems. Their projects involve re-surveying historical kelp sites and developing hatchery methods to grow kelp in aquaculture settings. While these initiatives offer hope for future restoration, uncertainty remains about the kelp’s long-term survival and the sustainability of kelping as a livelihood on the island.

Read the full ABC article by April McLennan here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-03/reports-bull-kelp-is-vanishing-on-king-island/104954488