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Joth Davis adjusted his waders and entered the refreshing waters of Thorndyke Bay, his Crocs vanishing beneath a blanket of dense, forest-green seaweed. In the backdrop, rugged Olympic summits emerged above the ridge. Before him lay 30 acres of oysters, clams, and geoducks — the shellfish farm he had managed for 35 years. 

A hundred feet from land, Davis bent down and stretched a hand toward the sludge, where a native cockle clam rested on the surface. “This right here,” he remarked, gathering the clam, “this is the issue.”

Under optimal circumstances, cockles bury themselves in sand or mud, resting in shallow waters. However, the conditions at Baywater Shellfish are not always favorable. Each summer, Davis and shellfish farmers along the Washington coastline grapple with an overabundance of Ulva, a native seaweed that thrives in tidelands. Commonly referred to as “sea lettuce,” Ulva grows thick and heavy. If left unchecked, it can suffocate the life below. 

Some shellfish, like the cockle in Davis’s grasp, can push through the muck and reach the surface, where they have a better chance of survival. Others — including the oysters and geoducks that are central to Baywater’s operations — are left to struggle on the seabed. 

“Excessive seaweed proliferates and simply accumulates on top of the (shellfish). We have definitely observed fatalities among geoducks due to the Ulva,” stated Davis, who is also a qualified marine biologist and adjunct professor of aquatic and fisheries sciences at the UW. “And it’s becoming increasingly worse.” 

For several years, Baywater has been manually removing surplus Ulva. Teams of workers lean over to scoop handfuls of seaweed into large containers. It’s a costly, time-intensive, and laborious task that generates yet another dilemma — what to do with the hundreds of pounds of surplus seaweed. 

Scholars at the University of Washington identified a prospect. Ulva is abundant in carbon and other nutrients, which can create issues if left in marine environments. Yet those same nutrients are essential for terrestrial agriculture. What if shellfish farmers like Davis could repurpose all that excess seaweed into an organic soil enhancer for vegetable farms? 

“It appeared to be an obvious solution,” remarked Sarah Collier, an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at UW and the lead for the project. “What has caused issues for shellfish farms could transform into a remarkable opportunity for land-based farms.”

This revelation led to Blue Carbon, Green Fields, a multi-year partnership among the UW, Baywater Shellfish, Puget Sound Restoration Fund, Washington Sea Grant, Washington State University, and farming business incubator Viva Farms. The initiative sought to assess the practicality of using Ulva as a soil enhancement, and, if successful, establish a market for marine farmers to provide excess seaweed to land-based farmers. Along the way, Collier’s research group would analyze the agricultural, economic, and climate effects of the supply chain. 

The leaders of the project aspired for their outcomes to aid in addressing a challenge not only in Washington but also in coastal areas worldwide. 

“Our farm essentially serves as a research platform,” Davis explained. “We’re pursuing this because it benefits the farm, but primarily, we seek scientific insights.” 

In December 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture granted the initiative nearly $5 million over five years. The project commenced the following year, extracting over 17,000 pounds of seaweed from shellfish beds and utilizing it on four local farms, which received financial support for their involvement. 

The initiative generated considerable enthusiasm. Stories from participating farms indicated an increase in crop yield, and around 70 farms showed interest in joining in the second year. The project team developed a prototype raft-based system to expedite seaweed removal. Preliminary data hinted at significant economic advantages. 

Then, the USDA halted the project. In April 2025, federal authorities terminated Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, a $3 billion initiative intended to fund forward-thinking agricultural projects such as Blue Carbon, Green Fields. 

“We had to immediately
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“Turn everything off,” Collier stated. Presently, the initiative is at an impasse: Agrarians who had been enthusiastic about participating found themselves unable, and scholars have not been able to completely assess the data from the initial year. The raft-based collector remains prepared, yet lacks a supply chain for the seaweed it gathers. 

As summer progresses, project coordinators have been rushing to preserve what they can, gathering vital data and storing seaweed samples for subsequent examination. Collier is exploring alternative funding sources and collaborating with the USDA to possibly modify the project to align with the Trump administration’s agendas. 

For the time being, however, a resolution to the seaweed dilemma remains elusive. 

“What’s truly exasperating is that this is undoubtedly a beneficial arrangement,” Collier mentioned. “It’s logical. It addresses an issue. It’s something that makes sense from every angle, whether you consider the economic aspect, the environmental consequences, or enhancing resilience and health in the system. It’s logical from every conceivable viewpoint. 

“So having to halt this work is incredibly frustrating.”