Floating Fungi: Mycelium-buoy test planned for Maine coast

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In Maine, buoys made of fungi root material mycelium could help reduce the impact of plastics waste from the fishing industry. 

The myco buoy is the brainchild of Sue Van Hook, a mycologist who as a child helped her grandfather with lobster buoys and was part of the team behind Ecovative, a company making packaging and other materials from mycelium.  “We know that the myco buoys show promise,” Van Hook tells Bangor Daily News. “This is a solution for replacing styrofoam flotation.”

Van Hook recently partnered with ocean farmers for a small-scale test of the buoys along the Maine coast. The buoys are produced by growing mycelium in a mold using hempstock and other plant waste as fungi food. The resulting material is buoyant and biodegradable.