The techniques of starting and landing, complementary and sustainable

The alga Gelidium is a red alga that belongs to the family of Rhodophytas, with a great capacity for regeneration due to its vegetative growth. In Spain, it is found on the Cantabrian Coast, in Asturias and Cantabria.

The techniques used for its extraction are those of uprooting and harvesting, both of which are complementary, sustainable, safe, and legally regulated, and have been practiced on the Cantabrian coast for decades. Hispanagar acquires Gelidium algae that have been collected using both the uprooting technique and the harvesting technique, and subsequently markets them according to their different applications.

The algae extracted using the uprooting technique are collected from the seabed by professional divers during specific periods with quantities regulated by the Public Administration. The collection season begins on July 1 and ends on September 30 (or earlier if the quotas are filled).

The algae extracted using this technique are free of impurities. They are optimal for the production of bacteriological agar and for use in microbiological culture media.

The Gelidium algae collected using the harvesting technique do not have a collection date. They are the algae that have remained on the seabed, mature and detached by the action of the sea to make way for the new harvest.

Since they are not selected, they appear mixed with other species, contain impurities, and are therefore destined for types of agar used in food applications.

Both extraction techniques for algae and the different uses of each agar have coexisted for decades and will continue to coexist thanks to the strict control of the competent authorities, along with the environmental commitment to sustainability of the resource that Hispanagar has led for 60 years and that all agar producers adopt.