About the farm

SEAKURA – A CHEST OF SEA TREASURES

Seakura was established in Israel in 2006 out of a powerful love of the sea and the environment, as well as a desire to feed the world with sea-sourced food, rich in nutritional content. This wish is expressed in the company name, composed of two words, SEA from the English, and KURA, or treasure chest, in Japanese.

What makes Seakura stand out is how the food is grown while preserving the marine environment. To this end, Seakura’s experts developed a unique method employing advanced technology which allows us to grow seaweed, containing all the goodness of the sea, on land, and without harming delicate marine ecology.

Seakura’s seaweed pools are located by the beach around Michmoret, and as you approach them you can hear the whisper of jacuzzi-like bubbles, replicating the movement of the water in the sea. Water is pumped in from deep in the sea and then moved over two kilometers through a giant pipe, at the end of which it is purified. This purified seawater is stored in the highest spot on the farm and from there, as gravity acts upon it, the water descends into the various growing pools. At the end of use, the water is returned to the sea, in order to avoid harming the marine environment insofar as we are able.

Marine agriculture of edible seaweed has been around for thousands of years, in particular in the Far East, where seaweed is considered a basic food, included in most recipes. In many cases, however, the agriculture is of the most basic sort; seaweed growing in the ocean is gathered, usually dried, and packaged. In Israel, Seakura developed sustainable marine agriculture, in the developing field of seaweed farming. The company includes marine biologists and technology experts who, together, are creating this unique farm and all it represents; emphasizing biological research while growing seaweed for sale.

There are numerous studies on seaweed- over 22,000 articles published in a range of scientific journals. Some address single-cell seaweed and others multi-cell varieties. At Seakura we grow multi-cells such as ulva, a green seaweed, and gracilaria, a brown-red seaweed.

Seakura has taken upon themselves not only to develop new technology for sustainable marine agriculture, but also to promote research on multi-cellular seaweed.

Ulva contains nutritional components including vitamins and minerals, dietary fibre and amino acids. It tastes of umami- the fifth taste as it is knowns, and thus blends in beautifully with many recipes, adding a special flavour and depth to a range of dishes. In addition, ulva is a significant ingredient in Seakura’s nutritional supplement series- a line of supplements containing seaweed, vitamins and minerals.

Gracilaria seaweed is reddish and exotic looking, with a rich flavour which can be used to deepen flavours and colours in many recipes. One thing which gracilaria can be used for is to make vegetarian gelatine, which is a great substitute for the animal-based product. It is widely used in confectionary, in the preparation of sweet desserts, jams and spreads and baked goods.