Trial run proposed for Jersey’s seaweed scourge

Wednesday 20 July 2016

A seaweed-eating machine will be used in St Aubin’s Bay this summer on a one-week trial run.

Transport Minister Eddie Noel has returned from a fact-finding trip to Brittany this week, where he assessed a French-owned machine which ‘eats’ seaweed - a scourge of Jersey beaches for many years.

Deputy Noel admits hiring out the £500,000 machine is not a simple solution to the problem, but will at least give Jersey’s policymakers the chance to see its impact. 

He said: “If there was a straightforward cure to this problem then it would have been solved a long time ago. 

“The plan to go forward is to bring the machine over in August or early September and see how it works for a week. We will use it in St Aubin’s Bay, where the problem is most acute and see what effect it has on the seaweed. 

“I was in France for a couple of days and the seaweed problem they have got in areas there is much worse than ours, but ours is certainly off-putting for tourists and locals alike.

“We want to see how well the machine does before committing any further. This seems the best way forward in the circumstances.”

A statement issued by the Department for Infrastructure says: "Whilst the operation of the machine was impressive, the French machine is of a grand scale, too large for Jersey, where only a scaled down operation would possibly be feasible for most of our beaches.  Talks will continue with Arrival (the manufacturer) regarding the specification of a suitable machine and to assist with this, it is hoped that the French machine may be trialled in St Aubin’s Bay sometime in August to prove the concept. This is dependent on the availability of the machine and the cost of running the trial."

Seaweed is a particularly difficult material to handle and the environment of sand and salt water makes any engineering solution problematic. 

The machine, which is six metres wide, will be transported over to Jersey later this summer - but then the problem of what to do with the seaweed once it has been removed is another pressing issue. 

Deputy Noel said: “The seaweed, once eaten off the beach, can be stored for only about 36 hours before it is still legal to turn it into animal feed. I don’t know if we have got those facilities on the Island or whether other alternative uses will have to be looked into for what to do with the seaweed. Fortunately, it is very versatile and can be used for a variety of different purposes, not just animal feed. Whatever is the case, at least we can borrow the machine for a week and see where we go from there. 

“This is is not a solution to the problem but at least it is a step in the right direction and that is important because we want nice, clean beaches in Jersey.”