The Irish Moss harvest has been in steady decline in PEI, but not that long ago, we produced and shipped over 50,000 tonnes of Irish Moss for processing. PEI provided up to one third of the global Irish Moss harvest. That's a lot !

Miminegash is in danger of losing its title of Irish Moss Capital of the World.

“There’s no Irish Moss on the west side this year. None at all,” proclaimed Ronnie Costain, operator of Oceanside Seaweed in Miminegash.

Most of the moss his company bought this year came from the north side.

“We had a pretty good run of furscelleria. The moss, we didn’t buy a whole lot,” Costain said.

It’s a similar story for moss on the wharf at Miminegash where Maritime Sea Products is based.

“It’s the first time since 1967 that I didn’t buy Irish Moss in the harbour of Miminegash,” Maritime Sea Products operator Audie Murphy stated.

Irish moss harvest not what it used to be
http://www.journalpioneer.com/News/Local/2010-08-13/article-1672144/Iris...

http://www.journalpioneer.com/News/Local/2010-08-13/article-1672144/Iris...

The reason for the interest in Irish Moss was for a compound called Carrageenan, which could be extracted from the dried plants. This compound was used for ice cream, keeping it nice and creamy ! It also was good to keep ice crystals from forming. It ended up being used in a great variety of products and there was great demand for it, which resulted in the development of major harvesting operations and plants.

More on the Irish Moss harvesting on PEI:

http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/PrinceEdwardIslandHarvest/moss_e...

DFO has studied the issue of decline in abundance of Irish moss around PEI waters:
http://www.glf.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/e0006845

Tignish Irish Moss Festival every year