An Indigenous-owned kelp business in Tofino is charting a new course for a sustainable ocean economy in Clayoquot Sound. Last summer, Ahousaht First Nation member Stevie Dennis partnered with Jordan White to launch Keltsmaht Kelp.
The company’s flagship product is Plant Probiotic, and it’s now available in garden stores throughout VanIsle.
“It’s plant food,” Dennis said told reporter Melissa Renwick in a story for Ha-Shilth-Sa. “That’s the easiest way to think about it.”
Dennis and White use wild bull and giant kelp foraged within traditional Ahousaht territory. They tested 60 versions of the kelp probiotic before releasing it to market.
The business partners first met while working at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort five years ago. Dennis grew up on boats helping his parents run one of the first whale-watching companies in Tofino. Later he worked as a commercial fisher.
White studied business at the University of Victoria. That’s where he discovered his passion for kelp. The friends started talking about seaweed and sustainability in Clayoquot Sound.
“I’m a product of my environment,” Dennis said. “Working with kelp was something that I saw as an opportunity to give back,” he said.
“We’ve taken, we’ve taken, we’ve taken almost every day of our lives, and we rarely ever give back to the environment.”
The company is named after Dennis’s mother’s side of the family, from the Keltsmaht Nation. Dennis also sees it as a way to create jobs for Indigenous folks in Clayoquot Sound and an alternative to working on fish farms.
Seaweed aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing sectors in global food production. There are more than 600 species of seaweed on the Pacific Coast. There are approximately 30 species of kelp, including feather boa kelp and bull kelp.
Kelp is the seaweed that can do it all.
It provides important habitat for hundreds of species of fish, marine invertebrates, and other wildlife. Kelp also sucks up billions of tonnes of carbon before it can pollute the atmosphere.
It’s also super nutritious for people. Kelp can be eaten raw or cooked.
Need some nutrients? It’s rich in iodine, iron amino acids, and omega-3 fatty acids. It also contains A, C, E, and B vitamins, such as riboflavin, niacin, and thiamin.
Keltsmaht Kelp is just beginning to tap into this incredible VanIsle superfood.
