Editing Kelp forest (section)

== Threats and management ==
[[File:Melibe.2.jpg|thumb|right|The nudibranch ''[[Melibe leonina]]'' on a ''[[Macrocystis]]'' frond (California): Marine protected areas are one way to guard kelp forests as an ecosystem. ]]
Given the complexity of kelp forests – their variable structure, geography, and interactions – they pose a considerable challenge to environmental managers. Extrapolating even well-studied trends to the future is difficult because interactions within the ecosystem will change under variable conditions, not all relationships in the ecosystem are understood, and the nonlinear thresholds to transitions are not yet recognized.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Scheffer |first1=Marten |last2=Carpenter |first2=Steve |last3=Foley |first3=Jonathan A. |last4=Folke |first4=Carl |last5=Walker |first5=Brian |date=October 2001 |title=Catastrophic shifts in ecosystems |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/35098000 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=413 |issue=6856 |pages=591–596 |doi=10.1038/35098000 |pmid=11595939 |bibcode=2001Natur.413..591S |issn=0028-0836 |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240925135619/https://www.nature.com/articles/35098000 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Major issues of concern include marine pollution and [[water quality]], kelp harvesting and fisheries, [[invasive species]],<ref name="Steneck 2002" /> and [[climate change]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-06/scientists-in-race-to-save-giant-kelp-off-tasmanian-coast/10782410|title=95pc of Tasmania's giant kelp is gone, scientists are in a race to save what's left|last=MacDonald|first=Lucy|date=2019-02-06|website=ABC News|access-date=2020-02-09|archive-date=2024-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007153211/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-06/scientists-in-race-to-save-giant-kelp-off-tasmanian-coast/10782410|url-status=live}}</ref> The most pressing threat to kelp forest preservation may be the overfishing of coastal ecosystems, which by removing higher trophic levels facilitates their shift to depauperate urchin barrens.<ref name="Sala1998" /> The maintenance of [[biodiversity]] is recognized as a way of generally stabilizing ecosystems and their services through mechanisms such as functional compensation and reduced susceptibility to foreign species invasions.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Frost |first1=Thomas M. |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-4615-1773-3_22 |title=Species Compensation and Complementarity in Ecosystem Function |last2=Carpenter |first2=Stephen R. |last3=Ives |first3=Anthony R. |last4=Kratz |first4=Timothy K. |date=1995 |publisher=Springer US |isbn=978-1-4613-5714-8 |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=Clive G. |location=Boston, MA |pages=224–239 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-4615-1773-3_22 |editor-last2=Lawton |editor-first2=John H. |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007154104/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4615-1773-3_22 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=D |first1=Tilman |last2=Cl |first2=Lehman |last3=Ce |first3=Bristow |date=Mar 1998 |title=Diversity-stability relationships: statistical inevitability or ecological consequence? |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18811358/ |journal=The American Naturalist |language=en |volume=151 |issue=3 |pages=277–282 |doi=10.1086/286118 |issn=0003-0147 |pmid=18811358 |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2023-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222170707/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18811358/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stachowicz |first1=John J. |last2=Whitlatch |first2=Robert B. |last3=Osman |first3=Richard W. |date=1999-11-19 |title=Species Diversity and Invasion Resistance in a Marine Ecosystem |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.286.5444.1577 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=286 |issue=5444 |pages=1577–1579 |doi=10.1126/science.286.5444.1577 |pmid=10567267 |issn=0036-8075 |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007153257/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.286.5444.1577 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Elmqvist |first1=Thomas |last2=Folke |first2=Carl |last3=Nyström |first3=Magnus |last4=Peterson |first4=Garry |last5=Bengtsson |first5=Jan |last6=Walker |first6=Brian |last7=Norberg |first7=Jon |date=November 2003 |title=Response diversity, ecosystem change, and resilience |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1890/1540-9295(2003)001[0488:RDECAR]2.0.CO;2 |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment |language=en |volume=1 |issue=9 |pages=488–494 |doi=10.1890/1540-9295(2003)001[0488:RDECAR]2.0.CO;2 |issn=1540-9295}}</ref> More recently, the 2022 IPCC report states that kelp and other seaweeds in most regions are undergoing mass mortalities from high temperature extremes and range shifts from warming, as they are stationary and cannot adapt quick enough to deal with the rapidly increasing temperature of the Earth and thus, the ocean.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/ |access-date=2022-02-28 |website=www.ipcc.ch |archive-date=2022-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228114918/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In many places, managers have opted to regulate the harvest of kelp<ref name="Dayton1999" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stekoll |first1=M. S. |last2=Deysher |first2=L. E. |last3=Hess |first3=M. |date=2006-11-27 |title=A remote sensing approach to estimating harvestable kelp biomass |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10811-006-9029-7 |journal=Journal of Applied Phycology |language=en |volume=18 |issue=3–5 |pages=323–334 |doi=10.1007/s10811-006-9029-7 |bibcode=2006JAPco..18..323S |issn=0921-8971 |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007154608/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10811-006-9029-7 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and/or the taking of kelp forest species by fisheries.<ref name="Steneck 2002" /><ref name="Jackson2001" /> While these may be effective in one sense, they do not necessarily protect the entirety of the ecosystem. [[Marine protected areas]] (MPAs) offer a unique solution that encompasses not only target species for harvesting, but also the interactions surrounding them and the local environment as a whole.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Allison |first1=Gary W. |last2=Lubchenco |first2=Jane |last3=Carr |first3=Mark H. |date=February 1998 |title=Marine reserves are necessary but not sufficient for marine conservation |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1890/1051-0761(1998)8[S79:MRANBN]2.0.CO;2 |journal=Ecological Applications |language=en |volume=8 |issue=sp1 |pages=S79–S92 |doi=10.1890/1051-0761(1998)8[S79:MRANBN]2.0.CO;2 |issn=1051-0761}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Airamé |first1=Satie |last2=Dugan |first2=Jenifer E. |last3=Lafferty |first3=Kevin D. |last4=Leslie |first4=Heather |last5=McArdle |first5=Deborah A. |last6=Warner |first6=Robert R. |date=February 2003 |title=Applying Ecological Criteria to Marine Reserve Design: A Case Study from the California Channel Islands |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1890/1051-0761(2003)013[0170:AECTMR]2.0.CO;2 |journal=Ecological Applications |language=en |volume=13 |issue=sp1 |pages=170–184 |doi=10.1890/1051-0761(2003)013[0170:AECTMR]2.0.CO;2 |issn=1051-0761}}</ref> Direct benefits of MPAs to fisheries (for example, spillover effects) have been well documented around the world.<ref name="Sala1998" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bohnsack |first=James A. |date=June 1998 |title=Application of marine reserves to reef fisheries management |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1442-9993.1998.tb00734.x |journal=Australian Journal of Ecology |language=en |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=298–304 |doi=10.1111/j.1442-9993.1998.tb00734.x |bibcode=1998AusEc..23..298B |issn=0307-692X |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007154525/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1442-9993.1998.tb00734.x |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gell |first1=Fiona R. |last2=Roberts |first2=Callum M. |date=September 2003 |title=Benefits beyond boundaries: the fishery effects of marine reserves |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0169534703001897 |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |language=en |volume=18 |issue=9 |pages=448–455 |doi=10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00189-7 |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007154458/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0169534703001897 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Willis |first1=Trevor J. |last2=Millar |first2=Russell B. |last3=Babcock |first3=Russ C. |date=April 2003 |title=Protection of exploited fish in temperate regions: high density and biomass of snapper Pagrus auratus (Sparidae) in northern New Zealand marine reserves |url=https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2664.2003.00775.x |journal=Journal of Applied Ecology |language=en |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=214–227 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2664.2003.00775.x |bibcode=2003JApEc..40..214W |issn=0021-8901 |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007154611/https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2664.2003.00775.x |url-status=live }}</ref> Indirect benefits have also been shown for several cases among species such as abalone and fishes in Central California.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Paddack |first1=Michelle J |last2=Estes |first2=James A |date=2000-06-01 |title=Kelp forest fish populations in marine reserves and adjacent exploited areas of central California |url=https://europepmc.org/article/AGR/IND605874945 |journal=Ecological Applications |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=855–870 |doi=10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[0855:kffpim]2.0.co;2 |issn=1051-0761 |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007154459/https://europepmc.org/article/AGR/IND605874945 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rogers-Bennett |first1=Laura |last2=Pearse |first2=John S. |date=2001-06-07 |title=Indirect Benefits of Marine Protected Areas for Juvenile Abalone |url=https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.015003642.x |journal=Conservation Biology |language=en |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=642–647 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.015003642.x |bibcode=2001ConBi..15..642R |issn=0888-8892 |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007155253/https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.015003642.x |url-status=live }}</ref> Most importantly, MPAs can be effective at protecting existing kelp forest ecosystems and may also allow for the regeneration of those that have been affected.<ref name="Dayton1992" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Babcock |first1=Russell C. |last2=Kelly |first2=Shane |last3=Shears |first3=Nick T. |last4=Walker |first4=Jarrod W. |last5=Willis |first5=Trevor J. |date=1999 |title=Changes in community structure in temperate marine reserves |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24854571 |journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series |volume=189 |pages=125–134 |doi=10.3354/meps189125 |jstor=24854571 |bibcode=1999MEPS..189..125B |issn=0171-8630}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Halpern |first1=Benjamin S. |last2=Warner |first2=Robert R. |date=May 2002 |title=Marine reserves have rapid and lasting effects |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2002.00326.x |journal=Ecology Letters |language=en |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=361–366 |doi=10.1046/j.1461-0248.2002.00326.x |bibcode=2002EcolL...5..361H |issn=1461-023X |access-date=2024-10-06 |archive-date=2024-02-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201185332/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2002.00326.x |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Kelp forest restoration in California ===
[[File:Fish swarm through the kelp forest.jpg|thumb|Fish [[Shoaling and schooling|swarming]] through a kelp forest]]

In the 2010s, Northern California lost 95% of its kelp ecosystems due to marine heatwaves.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-18|title=Hitting Rock Bottom: The Disappearance of California's Underwater Forests|url=https://andthewest.stanford.edu/2021/hitting-rock-bottom-the-disappearance-of-californias-underwater-forests/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=The Bill Lane Center for the American West, Stanford University|archive-date=2024-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007155212/https://andthewest.stanford.edu/2021/hitting-rock-bottom-the-disappearance-of-californias-underwater-forests/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Kerlin|first=Kat|date=2019-10-21|title=California's Crashing Kelp Forest|url=https://climatechange.ucdavis.edu/news/californias-crashing-kelp-forest/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=Science and Climate|archive-date=2021-08-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811174620/https://climatechange.ucdavis.edu/news/californias-crashing-kelp-forest/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=University of California Santa Cruz|date=2021-03-05|title=The collapse of Northern California kelp forests will be hard to reverse|url=https://phys.org/news/2021-03-collapse-northern-california-kelp-forests.html|access-date=2021-08-11|website=phys.org|archive-date=2021-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305100025/https://phys.org/news/2021-03-collapse-northern-california-kelp-forests.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-05-27|title=5 Reasons to Protect Kelp, the West Coast's Powerhouse Marine Algae|url=https://pew.org/2LXdtHi|access-date=2021-08-11|website=[[Pew Research Center]]|archive-date=2024-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007155257/https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2020/05/27/5-reasons-to-protect-kelp-the-west-coasts-powerhouse-marine-algae|url-status=live}}</ref>

Kelp bed recovery efforts in California are primarily focusing on [[sea urchin]] removal,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foster |first=Michael S |date=2013 |title=Kelp Forests in California |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/21627/SCMS39_Lang_10.pdf?sequence=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811175704/https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/21627/SCMS39_Lang_10.pdf?sequence=1 |archive-date=2021-08-11 |website=Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences}}</ref> both by scuba divers,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Williams|first1=Jonathan P.|last2=Claisse|first2=Jeremy T.|last3=Ii|first3=Daniel J. Pondella|last4=Williams|first4=Chelsea M.|last5=Robart|first5=Matthew J.|last6=Scholz|first6=Zoe|last7=Jaco|first7=Erin M.|last8=Ford|first8=Tom|last9=Burdick|first9=Heather|last10=Witting|first10=David|date=2021-04-15|title=Sea urchin mass mortality rapidly restores kelp forest communities|url=https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v664/p117-131/|journal=Marine Ecology Progress Series|volume=664|pages=117–131|doi=10.3354/meps13680|bibcode=2021MEPS..664..117W|s2cid=234106934|issn=0171-8630|access-date=2021-11-24|archive-date=2021-11-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124143527/https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v664/p117-131/|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and by [[sea otter]]s, which are natural predators.<ref>{{Cite web|title=New Findings on Kelp Forest Restoration|url=http://dornsifelive.usc.edu/uscseagrant/new-findings-on-kelp-forest-restoration/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=USC Sea Grant - USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences|archive-date=2021-08-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811164117/http://dornsifelive.usc.edu/uscseagrant/new-findings-on-kelp-forest-restoration/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Saving California's kelp forests|url=https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/07/saving-californias-kelp-forests-cte-spc/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=[[CNN]]|archive-date=2021-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210730163427/https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/07/saving-californias-kelp-forests-cte-spc/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-06-21|title=New Study Finds Hope for Restoration of Kelp Beds and Commercial Fisheries|url=https://polycentric.cpp.edu/2021/06/new-study-finds-hope-for-restoration-of-kelp-beds-and-commercial-fisheries/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=PolyCentric|archive-date=2021-06-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602185116/https://polycentric.cpp.edu/2021/06/new-study-finds-hope-for-restoration-of-kelp-beds-and-commercial-fisheries/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021|title=Project: Palos Verdes|url=https://sea-trees.org/pages/palos-verdes-kelp|access-date=2021-08-11|website=SeaTrees, by Sustainable Surf|archive-date=2020-07-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702083316/https://sea-trees.org/pages/palos-verdes-kelp|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hohman|first=R|date=2019|title=Sonoma-Mendocino Bull Kelp Recovery Plan, for Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and California Department of Fish & Wildlife|url=https://farallones.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Bull-Kelp-Recovery-Plan-2019.pdf|access-date=2021-08-11|website=Greater Farallones Association|archive-date=2020-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501172103/https://farallones.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Bull-Kelp-Recovery-Plan-2019.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

A brown alga, ''[[Sargassum horneri]]'', an invasive species first spotted in 2003, has also been a concern.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-04-17|title=Marine Invasive Species - Channel Islands National Park|url=https://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/nature/marine-invasive-species.htm|access-date=2021-08-11|website=U.S. National Park Service|archive-date=2017-06-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602174204/https://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/nature/marine-invasive-species.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Ritchie|first=Erika I|date=2020-09-08|title=An Orange County marine biologist wants to weed the ocean to help kelp grow|url=https://www.ocregister.com/2020/09/08/an-orange-county-marine-biologist-wants-to-weed-the-ocean-to-help-kelp-grow|access-date=2021-08-11|website=[[Orange County Register]]|archive-date=2020-09-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200911055042/https://www.ocregister.com/2020/09/08/an-orange-county-marine-biologist-wants-to-weed-the-ocean-to-help-kelp-grow/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Sunflower sea star]] is an important keystone species which helps control sea urchin abundance, but an outbreak of [[Sea star wasting disease]] and a vulnerability to [[climate change]] has led to its critical endangerment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sunflower Sea Star Proposed for Endangered Species Act Protection |url=https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/sunflower-sea-star-proposed-for-endangered-species-act-protection-2023-03-15/ |access-date=2023-11-30 |website=Center for Biological Diversity |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007155258/https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/sunflower-sea-star-proposed-for-endangered-species-act-protection-2023-03-15/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Researchers at the Bodega Marine Laboratory of UC Davis are developing replanting strategies, and volunteers of the Orange County Coastkeeper group are replanting giant kelp.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2021-01-12|title=Kelp: California's Coastal Forests|url=https://marinescience.ucdavis.edu/blog/kelp-californias-coastal-forests|access-date=2021-08-11|website=Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute, UC Davis|archive-date=2021-01-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112225121/https://marinescience.ucdavis.edu/blog/kelp-californias-coastal-forests|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Kelp Reforestation Program|url=https://www.coastkeeper.org/restoration/kelp-reforestation-program/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=Orange County Coastkeeper|archive-date=2024-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007175326/https://www.coastkeeper.org/restoration/kelp-reforestation-program/|url-status=live}}</ref> Humboldt State University began cultivating bull kelp in its research farm in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-12|title=Kelp is on the Way|url=http://now.humboldt.edu/news/kelp-is-on-the-way/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=Humboldt State Now|archive-date=2021-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712223424/http://now.humboldt.edu/news/kelp-is-on-the-way/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Research efforts at the state level to prevent kelp forest collapse in California were announced in July 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Leitzell|first=Katherine|date=2020-07-06|title=New research to address kelp forest crisis in California|url=https://caseagrant.ucsd.edu/news/new-research-to-address-kelp-forest-crisis-in-california|access-date=2021-08-11|website=California Sea Grant|archive-date=2020-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708070545/https://caseagrant.ucsd.edu/news/new-research-to-address-kelp-forest-crisis-in-california|url-status=dead}}</ref>

At the federal level, H.R. 4458, the Keeping Ecosystems Living and Productive (KELP) Act, introduced July 29, 2021, seeks to establish a new grant program within [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|NOAA]] for kelp forest restoration.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bittenbender|first=Steve|date=2021-08-10|title=Huffman-sponsored bill seeks grant funding to restore kelp forests|url=https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/huffman-sponsored-bill-seeks-grant-funding-to-restore-kelp-forests|access-date=2021-08-11|website=SeafoodSource|archive-date=2021-08-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811174621/https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/huffman-sponsored-bill-seeks-grant-funding-to-restore-kelp-forests|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ocean Rainforest, a [[Faroe Islands]]-based company, secured $4.5 million in U.S. government funding to grow giant kelp on an 86-acre farm off the coast of Santa Barbara, California.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-12 |title=Ocean rainforest secures $4.5 m to ramp up Californian kelp production |url=https://thefishsite.com/articles/ocean-rainforest-secures-4-5-m-to-ramp-up-californian-kelp-production |access-date=2024-07-22 |website=The Fish Site |archive-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007175326/https://thefishsite.com/articles/ocean-rainforest-secures-4-5-m-to-ramp-up-californian-kelp-production |url-status=live }}</ref>