A Nunavik company says a new barbecue spice using Ungava Bay seaweed should be in stores this year.

Nunavik Biosciences — which is owned by Makivik Corporation in northern Quebec — developed the spice.

The company already harvests seaweed near Kangirsuk, Que., for use in cosmetics and skin creams.

Yves Bellefleur of Nunavik Biosciences said the idea for a barbecue spice came from European chefs who cook with seaweed.

"Somebody was working in a kitchen and he said, 'I tried some species' — and it was exactly the same species we're using — and he said ‘The taste is much better; Your taste, your seaweed is better than all the other ones.’ And the taste is more salty."

Bellefleur said a new facility for drying the seaweed in Kangirsuk should be built by summer.

The federal government has spent more than half a million dollars to help develop the business, which provides seasonal work for dozens of people in Kangirsuk.

Nunavik Biosciences hopes to expand by harvesting seaweed in other Nunavik communities.