This article discusses the economic importance of seaweed farming in Tanzania.
Digital library
-
-
Tourism has the potential to be used as a positive tool for growth in developing nations. In order to gain the most benefit from tourism, planning and management is vital for successful tourism destination development and the attainment of conservation goals. This process should involve all stakeholders who might be affected by tourism and associated developments. In order for collaboration to be effective, there are certain social aspects that need to exist in stakeholder relationships such as open communication, transparency, and trust. Research has shown that these social variables are vital for the successful collaborative management of natural resources, and as such are important to the health of social and ecological systems upon which the future of tourism depends. This article investigates stakeholder relations and how these have influenced the Mnemba Island Marine Conservation Area in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Findings suggest a lack of structure in the working relationships of key stakeholders. As a result, these relationships are strained. Despite the importance of formal agreements and structured relations, these have been difficult to implement due to stakeholder conflict over resource control. Social variables (e.g., trust, transparency) shaping stakeholder relations had a largely negative impact on the health of social and ecological systems. Suggestions for a more detailed investigation into the complexities, challenges, and possibilities for stakeholder working relationships in the Mnemba Island Marine Conservation Area are provided
-
It’s rare to get good news from the sea. Water temperatures are rising, fish stocks are being depleted, and the fish we do eat are increasingly full of microplastics. But the oceans do hold one positive portent: Seaweed. It’s regenerative — it can grow about a foot a day — and carbon and nitrogen sequestering. Research suggests that, per acre, it can absorb more than 20 times as much carbon dioxide as a forest. In the U.S. and Canada, entrepreneurs are cultivating it and other macro algae for everything from kelp jerky to capsules containing shots of Glenlivet.
These companies have ambitious plans to grow in 2020, taking up more and more space on shelves and cleaning up more and more oceans. “We are eyes on the blue green economy,” says Chelsea Briganti, chief executive officer of utensil maker Loliware. “Seaweed represents an opportunity everywhere you look.”
-
Seaweed is essentially a potassie fertilizer, being specially rich in potash, but it also contains notable amounts of nitrogen and other elements of plant food, so that it might be terined a complete manner.
Fresh seaweed in undoubtedly a watery manure, containing from 65 to 90 percent of water and it is this fact, no doubt, (the cartage being a more or less expensive feature) that limits its use to those living more or less close to the shore. A part of this useless water may be got rid of by drying the seaweed on the beach for a few days before hauling to the farm. But not withstanding its large percentage of water, seaweed compares quite favourably, weight for weight, with barnyarnd manure, and it has this advantage that it brings to the farm no weed seeds nor insects nor fungus pests.
Analyses of many Canadian seaweeds, more especially from the Atlantic seaboard, have been made in the Experimental Farm laboratory in Ottawa, and we append in tabular form certain of the data as illustrative of their general composition.
-
The world seaweed industry is currently worth over US$7.4 billion, and the potential for increased seaweed use exists in many countries. The species diversity of seaweeds in Mauritius has been extremely well documented in comparison with many local islands and regions, largely due to the work of the Danish phycologist Dr F. Boergesen, published from 1940-1957. The recorded seaweed flora is currently 435 species (59 brown algae, 108 green algae and 268 red algae), which is more than have thus far been recorded in either Kenya or Tanzania, and many more than for any other similar islands in the Indian Ocean. The world seaweed industry is growing rapidly, particularly the aquaculture sector, and possibilities for sustainable seaweed utilisation in Mauritius are discussed. Most seaweed culture for human food occurs in temperate regions, and current successful industries in tropical environments, especially the culture of Eucheuma / Kappaphycus for carrageenans, are in developing countries with low average incomes, often involving the importation of non-indigenous species. Possibilities exist in the aquaculture of seaweeds including in integrated systems for bioremediation and/or as animal feed, as well as the potential for utilisation of abundant species as feed or fertiliser or in small value-added industries. As an example, the worldwide uses of Sargassum, perhaps the most abundant local genus, are discussed.
-
Colistin, a last resort antibiotic, is important for controlling infections with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The recent emergence of mobile-colistin-resistance (mcr) genes has threatened the effectiveness of colistin. Aquaculture is hypothesized to be a major contributor to the evolution and dissemination of mcr. However, data on mcr in aquaculture are limited. Here, the occurrence of mcr-1 was assessed in Rainbow Trout in Lebanon, a country with developing antimicrobial stewardship and an established use of colistin for medical and farming purposes. mcr-1 was detected in 5 Escherichia coli isolated from fish guts. The isolates were classified as multidrug-resistant and their colistin minimum inhibitory concentration ranged between 16 and 32 μg/mL. Whole genome sequencing analysis showed that mcr-1 was carried on transmissible IncX4 plasmids and that the isolates harbored more than 14 antibiotic resistance genes. The isolates belonged to ST48 and ST101, which have been associated with mcr and can occur in humans and fish. The mcr-1-positive E. coli persisted in 6-day biofilms, but there was a potential fitness cost. Given the status of infrastructure in Lebanon, there is a high potential for the dissemination of mcr via aquatic environments. Urgent actions are needed to control mcr and to enhance antimicrobial stewardship in Lebanon.
-
Worldwide, biodiversity is declining and the marine environment is no exception, with increasing sea surface temperatures leading to drastic alterations in marine populations, communities and ecosystems. Of particular concern is the potential for loss of macroalgae, which function as ecological engineers, primary producers, habitat and structure providers, nutrient cyclers, keystone species, food and nursery grounds for invertebrates and pelagic organisms, and shoreline buffers from storms. Furthermore, macroalgae are a (U.S.) $11 billion industry as food, animal feed and fertilizers.
-
Algae have been part of Chinese life for thousands of years. They are widely used as food and have been cited in Chinese literature as early as 2500 years ago. However, formal taxonomic studies on Chinese algae were initiated by foreign scientists only about 200 years ago, and by Chinese phycologists only about 90 years ago. This paper summarizes the history of modern phycological studies on Chinese algae and provides an overview of the achievements of phycological studies by Chinese scientists, especially on algal taxonomy, morphology, genetics, ecology and environmental research, physiology, biotechnology, algal culture, applied phycology and space phycology, in the last century. Recent development in phycological research focuses on algal floristic and molecular systematics, algal molecular biotechnology, applied phycology including micro and macroalgal cultivation and algal product development, and the roles of algae in environmental pollution control. These areas will also be the main focuses of Chinese phycological research in the foreseeable future.
-
Government regulatory policies and social acceptance are critically important to the growth of marine aquaculture in the United States. In much of the country, opposition to marine aquaculture by local and national interest groups and local, state, tribal, or national policies have limited marine aquaculture to a scale far below its potential. There are several reason for this: (1) Marine aquaculture is relatively small, diverse, and (with some notable exceptions) unproven; (2) marine waters are public resources; (3) some Americans perceive potential negative effects of marine aquaculture without offsetting positive effects; (4) aquaculture faces significant social opposition; and (5) the governance system for leasing and regulation hinders the development of U.S. marine aquaculture. This article discusses five broad strategies and recent efforts to advance marine aquaculture in the United States: (1) fixing problems, (2) creating benefits, (3) building partnerships, (4) arguing effectively, and (5) reforming governance.
-
The food and feed industry surpass their sustainable boundaries and global food security is one of society's biggest challenges today. Macroalgae of the genus Ulva have been identified as a suitable candidate for cultivation, with various applications within the food and feed industry. This work discusses the sustainability performance of Ulva cultivation and identifies the potential of Ulva species in southern Portugal for their use in the food and feed industry. It was tested, which species are available in different coastal and lagoon habitats and whether species identity or environmental conditions have a stronger effect on the seaweed’s protein content and fatty acid profile, to find out, whether the selection of one Ulva species is favorable over another for cultivation. Ulva species were collected at coastal and lagoon locations in southern Portugal and genetically identified, using the tufA gene sequences. Ulva rigida, Ulva flexuosa, Ulva fasciata, Ulva australis and Ulva compressa were identified as potential cultivation candidates. U. australis has not previously been reported in southern Portugal. Protein content in U. rigida sampled in coastal locations was higher (p < 0.01) compared to lagoon locations, but not different among species within the Ria Formosa (p = 0.363). Fatty acid profiles were not different across locations (p = 0.739). However, U. compressa had a higher PUFA content than U. rigida and U. fasciata within the Ria Formosa (p = 0.0245). Results suggest that U. compressa might be more a more suitable Ulva candidate for PUFA production and that protein content in seaweeds may be more susceptible to environmental conditions. In southern Portugal, Ulva is still an underexploited resource but has the potential to be part of the solution to overcome food security challenges in the future.
Pages
Marine Agronomy Group, CAFNRM, UH-Hilo
200 W. Kawili st., HI 96720, USA
Contact: Marine.Agronomy.Group@gmail.com
Funding for this web portal is provided by the World Wildlife Fund and the University of Hawaii-Hilo.