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Arkhangelsk Region to use Norwegian technology in algae production

Norwegian workers use special equipment - mechanical dredges - to cut off kelp, without damaging its base

ARKHANGELSK, September 20. /TASS/. The Arkhangelsk Region will use Norwegian extraction technology in kelp and other algae production, the region’s Algae Plant’s Executive Director Alexei Korotenkov told TASS on Friday after a Russian-Norwegian fishing conference.

"We now collect algae, like it was done centuries ago, by mowing, while the Norwegians use special equipment," he said. "We, jointly with scientists and Norwegian experts, should begin using a method, which would not harm the environment."

Kelp collecting in the Arkhangelsk Region is practically by hand. This hard work continues in summer time only in the White Sea. "People do not want to work in such conditions, as it is a hard job," he continued. "Even good money is does not attract people."

"We must begin using equipment, though without damaging the ecology," he added.

Norwegian workers use special equipment - mechanical dredges - to cut off kelp, without damaging its base. This method could be used in the White Sea, the Russian plant’s representative said.

Russia could also use Norway’s experience in processing. "Algae fast food is both quick and healthy," he said.

In 2019, the region produced 1,600 tonnes of kelp and fucus. "This is a good result, though we had practically no summer," the plant’s executive director said. "Last year, we produced 1,200 tonnes." The production fields are near the Solovki Archipelago, the Onega Peninsula, the Zhizhgin and the Bolshoi Zhuzhmyi and the Malyi Zhuzhmyi Islands, some fields are in Karelia. Arkhangelsk’s algae plant is the biggest plant of the kind in Russia and the only plant for algae’s deep processing.