Severine von Tscharner Fleming, left, director of thegreenhorns.net; vegetable farmer Erin Bullock; Micah Woodcone, owner of Atlantic Holdfast Seaweed Company; and Amber Reed, who manages a livestock farm at the first Maine Seaweed Festival in South Portland.

Peter Arnold and Betta Stothart of Maine Fresh Sea Farms were among the 75 guests tasting food and drinks made with Maine seaweeds.

Charlie Yarish, left, a professor and seaweed researcher at the University of Connecticut, with Tollef Olson, founder of Ocean Approved.

Robert Morse of North American Kelp with festival organizer Hillary Krapf and her mother, Devorah Hanson of Portland at the festival at Southern Maine Community College spotlighting Maine’s seaweed industry and efforts to protect marine resources.

Ryan Weatherbee, whose wife is a marine botanist, and Christian Fox, a scientific diver, at the culmination of the festival that drew 1,500 visitors.