Digital library

  • Seedling Production in Europe – From Laboratory to Industrial Scale

    Brief Background

    • Ardtoe was set up by the UK Seafish Industry Authority as an aquaculture research facility in 1964 and quickly gained an international reputation in the hatchery production of finfish and shellfish juveniles
    • When we took over the lab in 2005, we scaled up the existing finfish hatchery (initially cod and turbot but also now wrasse) from the then laboratory scale to fully commercial levels
    • We have since developed a shellfish hatchery operation, again taking it from an initial experimental level to it present commercial scale
    • We are thus no strangers to kinds of problems that are inevitably involved in taking any technology from pilot to a fully commercial scale
    • I will today therefore try to outline the constraints to large scale commercial seaweed seedling production, as we see them, and how we have been tackling those constraints
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    Author(s): Tim Atack , Jon Dunningham

  • Seedling production using enzymatically isolated thallus cells and its application in Porphyra cultivation

    On the basis of previous achievements in Porphyra seedling production using enzymatically isolated thallus cells, we have investigated the influences of water content of thallus before freezing, storing temperature and enzymes on the viability of isolated cells. We have also tried outdoor cultivation of seedlings produced enzymatically in different seasons. It has been found that survival rate of isolated cells of thallus stored for two months can reach 90% if water content is 30% before freezing and storing temperature is constant at - 20°C. The 80% cell survival rate can be reached after two years of storage under this condition. The fluctuation of storing temperature causes drastic decrease of cell survival rate. 84% of the cells have survived digestion of sea snail enzyme I, which is the highest among five enzymes used. Outdoor cultivation of seedlings produced on the first ten days of January can reach lengths of more than 20 cm upon harvesting in the middle of May. In addition, seedlings produced in spring can be stored frozen and cultivated in autumn. The harvesting date will advance 15 days in comparison with the conventional seedling producing approach. This promises multiple rounds of cultivation of Porphyra within a year.

    Author(s): Liran Zhou, Songdong Shen, Baoqin Han, Zhenmin Bao, Wanshun Liu, Zhen Yang, Jixun Dai

  • Selected Federal Water Activities: Agencies, Authorities, and Congressional Committees

    Congress has enacted hundreds of federal laws affecting the nation’s water resources and continues to address numerous water-related issues annually. From responding to natural disasters such as droughts and floods, to improving water resources and water quality infrastructure and protecting fish and wildlife, many congressional committees are involved in legislating, funding, and overseeing the water-related activities of numerous federal agencies. Nearly two centuries of such activity have resulted in a complex web of federal involvement in water resource
    management and use.

    Although the responsibility for development, management, protection, and allocation of the nation’s water resources is spread among federal, state, local, tribal, and private interests, this report focuses on the complexity of federal activities related to water. The report covers multiple topic areas and individual water-related subtopics ranging from water supply and water quality infrastructure to fisheries management and water rights. The report is not exhaustive; instead, the authors have attempted to cover the major federal activities authorized by Congress that affect water resource development, management, and use in the United States. Similarly, the analysis does not cover every aspect of House and Senate committee jurisdiction affecting water issues. Accordingly, it may be helpful to seek the views of the House and Senate Parliamentarian Offices for a more definitive evaluation of committee jurisdictions related to water. The report covers four general areas: (1) “Water Resources Development, Management, and Use” (2) “Water Quality, Protection, and Restoration” (3) “Water Rights and Allocation,” and (4) “Research and Planning.” These are further divided into tables that list topic areas and individual water-related subtopics. For each subtopic, CRS has identified selected federal agencies and activities related to the topic, authorities for such activities, and relevant House and Senate committee jurisdictions.

    The “Water Resources Development, Management, and Use” theme includes subtopics that relate to supply and reservoir development, drought and flood management, and hydropower and navigation. The “Water Quality, Protection, and Restoration” theme includes issues relating to water quality (e.g., water pollution and treatment, drinking water quality) and aquatic resources protection and management. The “Water Rights and Allocation” theme addresses water allocation and interstate compacts, river basin commissions, federal reserved water rights, and tribal water rights.

    The “Research and Planning” theme includes subtopics related to research and data collection, including water cycle and climate change research, and watershed planning. Appendixes address considerations in determining House and Senate committee jurisdictions and present the official language from House Rule X and Senate Rule XXV, respectively, as indicators of congressional jurisdiction over water resources. A glossary of House and Senate Committee abbreviations and federal agency acronyms is also included.

     In sum, the nine tables that make up the body of the document underscore the complexity of federal activities affecting water resource development, management, protection, and use in the United States. As apparent throughout these tables, numerous standing committees in the House and Senate have jurisdiction over various components of federal water policy. The wide range of federal executive responsibilities for water resources reflects comparably complex congressional legislative responsibilities, which in turn reflect the multiple ways in which water laws affect social and economic activities and vice versa.

    Author(s): Betsy A. Cody, Judy Schneider, Mary Tiemann, Grace Relf

  • Selecting Australian marine macroalgae based on the fatty acid composition and anti-inflammatory activity

    Increasingly, macroalgae are being recognised as a growth opportunity for functional foods and nutritional security in the future. Dominating traits of interest are metabolites that function as anti-inflammatories and are antiproliferative. However, seaweeds from the northern hemisphere dominate this field of research. Australia has a unique flora of macroalgae, and it is poorly understood which species should be targeted for cultivation towards food and health markets. Here, six Australian marine macroalgae were selected for screening of one anti-inflammatory group; n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). PUFA profiles were determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and multivariate analysis. Thirty-one fatty acids (FA) were identified across the six macroalgal species with C16:0 the dominant FA in all samples, variations across taxa in the saturated FA C10:0, C14:0, C16:0, C18:0 and C20:0 and variations in monounsaturated FA attributed to C16:1 n-7 and C18:1 n-9. For PUFA profiles, all six species had significantly different n-6/n-3 ratios, while the green seaweed Ulva species possessed the lowest n-6/n-3 ratio of 0.4, along with a 2-fold higher C18:3 n- 3 to C18:2 n-6 content. Ulva sp. was the only species that contained docosahexaenoic acid. Extracts of both the Ulva sp. and Hormosira banksii showed selective cytotoxicity towards a human pancreatic cancer cell line, while the nonpolar extracts of all six algae species strongly inhibited production of the inflammatory-mediator nitric oxide.

    Author(s): Janice I. McCauley, Barbara J. Meyer, Pia C. Winberg, Marie Ranson, Danielle Skropeta

  • Selecting Reliable and Robust Freshwater Macroalgae for Biomass Applications

    Intensive cultivation of freshwater macroalgae is likely to increase with the development of an algal biofuels industry and algal bioremediation. However, target freshwater macroalgae species suitable for large-scale intensive cultivation have not yet been identified. Therefore, as a first step to identifying target species, we compared the productivity, growth and biochemical composition of three species representative of key freshwater macroalgae genera across a range of cultivation conditions. We then selected a primary target species and assessed its competitive ability against other species over a range of stocking densities. Oedogonium had the highest productivity (8.0 g ash free dry weight m22 day21 ), lowest ash content (3–8%), lowest water content (fresh weigh: dry weight ratio of 3.4), highest carbon content (45%) and highest bioenergy potential (higher heating value 20 MJ/kg) compared to Cladophora and Spirogyra. The higher productivity of Oedogonium relative to Cladophora and Spirogyra was consistent when algae were cultured with and without the addition of CO2 across three aeration treatments. Therefore, Oedogonium was selected as our primary target species. The competitive ability of Oedogonium was assessed by growing it in bi-cultures and polycultures with Cladophora and Spirogyra over a range of stocking densities. Cultures were initially stocked with equal proportions of each species, but after three weeks of growth the proportion of Oedogonium had increased to at least 96% (67 S.E.) in Oedogonium-Spirogyra bi-cultures, 86% (616 S.E.) in Oedogonium-Cladophora bi-cultures and 82% (618 S.E.) in polycultures. The high productivity, bioenergy potential and competitive dominance of Oedogonium make this species an ideal freshwater macroalgal target for large-scale production and a valuable biomass source for bioenergy applications. These results demons

    Author(s): Rebecca J. Lawton, Rocky de Nys, Nicholas A. Paul

  • Selection of temperate Ulva species and cultivars for land-based cultivation and biomass applications

    Green seaweeds from the cosmopolitan genus Ulva are targets for land-based aquaculture and a diverse range of biomass applications, but are not currently cultivated in Aotearoa New Zealand. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify target species and cultivars of Ulva as a first step towards establishing land-based cultivation of seaweed in Aotearoa New Zealand. We isolated 24 cultivars of Ulva from natural populations in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. We compared growth and biomass productivities of 18 of these cultivars, either in their original collection morphology (e.g., blade/filamentous) and/or in cluster morphology where possible as a result of induced formation of free-floating germling clusters. Specific growth rates and biomass productivities of multiple cultivars in small-scale laboratory cultures were high (>20% day− 1 and >8 g dry weight (DW) m− 2 day− 1 respectively), with biomass increases of 5 to 8-fold per week in the fastest growing cultivars. However, there was significant variation in growth and biomass productivity among cultivars of each morphology type. Biomass productivities were highest for cultivars WB2 (blade, 7.5 g DW m− 2 day− 1 ), SW9 (blade cluster, 9.4 g DW m− 2 day− 1 ), SW8 (filamentous, 7.8 g DW m− 2 day− 1 ), and SW6 (filamentous cluster, 9.8 g DW m− 2 day− 1 ). Growth rates and biomass productivities were consistently higher for cluster compared to non-cluster morphologies for each morphology type (e.g. filamentous or blade), demonstrating that clusters are a viable option to enable free-floating cultivation of filamentous species of Ulva. These results confirm the suitability of Ulva as a target for intensive land-based aquaculture in Aotearoa New Zealand. The significant inter-cultivar variation found in the current study further highlights the importance of sampling widely and focusing on cultivar rather than species selection when identifying targets for cultivation.

    Author(s): Rebecca J. Lawton, Judy E. Sutherland, Christopher R.K. Glasson, Marie E. Magnusson

  • SES Signs Deal with Statoil for Seaweed to Biofuel

    Trondheim, Norway-based Seaweed Energy Solutions AS (SES) has signed a cooperation agreement with Statoil, marking a major step forward for SES’s strategic goal of turning seaweed into a commercially viable alternative energy source.

    Author(s): Pål Bakken

  • Shifting fuel feedstock from oil wells to sea: Iran outlook and potential for biofuel production from brown macroalgae (ochrophyta; phaeophyceae)

    Finding renewable alternative energy resources for fossil fuels substitution has become very vital due to the serious challenges faced by humankind at present such as environmental pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, crude oil price volatility, and fossil fuels exhaustion. Macroalgae (seaweeds) are fast-growing marine plants, providing several harvests per year without the need for arable land, fertilizer, and fresh water. Various types of ecosystems like coral reefs, mangrove forests, and rocky shores can efficiently host the seaweeds production systems. These characteristics have made them highly suitable feedstocks for third-generation bioethanol production. Iran has a huge potential in renewable energy resources owing to its unique geographical location and climatic features. The country borders with the Caspian Sea in the north and with the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in the south. Seaweeds farming can also play a key role in mitigating air pollution, increasing employment rate, sustaining fossil fuel resources, bioremediating contaminated water, and improving marine ecosystem in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. In the present article, macroalgae diversity, cultivation, and their conversion and upgrading technologies into bioethanol in Iran are scrutinized and discussed. Finally, the potential of Bushehr (the Persian Gulf) and Chabahar (the Gulf of Oman) coastlines for macroalgae cultivation is investigated. These locations receive the annual solar radiation in the range of 1680‒1753 kWh/m2 and the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) in the range of 2.6‒2.71 GJ/m2 /year with 3051‒3311.9 h sunshine per annum. Furthermore, the nutrient-rich and calm water with relatively stable pH, salinity, and temperature make these coasts suitable for macroalgae farming. A potential yield up to 147‒153 t/ha/year can be obtained if proper native/engineered species, well-situated sites, and compatible cultivation techniques are selected.

    Author(s): Hamed Kazemi Shariat Panahi, Mona Dehhaghi, Mortaza Aghbashlo, Keikhosro Karimi, Meisam Tabatabaei

  • Simulation of offshore aquaculture system for macro algae (seaweed) oceanic farming

    Large-scale cultivation of seaweed has become one of the most important aquaculture activities in Malaysiawhich may help increase farmers’ incomes as well as seaweed itself can be processed into many beneficialend products. The present location of seaweed farming selected by farmers is situated close proximity tothe coastline which is between 100 and 200 m from the seashore. The unfavourable condition of sea duringrough sea with high wave and high speed of current is always a problem to the farmers since this environ-mental condition destroys their seaweed planting lines. To avoid the above problem, especially in monsoonprone area, a thorough analysis needs to be done in order to prevent environmental load from destroyingseaweed platform on its mooring line when subjected to greater stress. The main objective of this study isto perform a simulation study which will allow analysis of the best mooring system for multi-body floatingseaweed farm, together with understanding of the reliability and effectiveness of the system. This paperpresents the design of seaweed platform model with mooring assessment in order to obtain a comprehen-sive and reliable seaweed mooring platform with the aid of mooring simulation software and model tests.

    Author(s): K.F. Tee, A.S.A. Kader, A. Magee, S.O. Olanrewaju

  • Simulation of sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) breeding guided by practices to prioritize accelerated research gains

    The domestication process of sugar kelp in the Northeast U.S. was initiated by selective breeding two years ago. In this study, we will demonstrate how obstacles for accelerated genetic gain can be assessed using simulation approaches that inform resource allocation decisions in our research. Thus far, we have used 140 wild sporophytes (SPs) that were sampled from the northern Gulf of Maine (GOM) to southern New England (SNE). From these SPs, we sampled gametophytes (GPs) and made and evaluated over 600 progeny SPs from crosses among the GPs. The biphasic life cycle of kelp gives a great advantage in selective breeding as we can potentially select both on the SPs and GPs. However, several obstacles exist, such as the amount of time it takes to complete a breeding cycle, the number of GPs that can be maintained in the lab, and whether positive selection can be conducted on farm tested SPs. Using the GOM population characteristics for heritability and effective population size, we simulated a founder population of 1000 individuals and evaluated the impact of overcoming these obstacles on genetic gain. Our results showed that key factors to improve current genetic gain rely mainly on our ability to induce reproduction of the best farm-tested SPs, and to accelerate the clonal vegetative growth of released GPs so that enough GP biomass is ready for making crosses by the next growing season. Overcoming these challenges could improve rates of genetic gain more than two-fold. Future research should focus on conditions favorable for inducing spring and early summer reproduction, and increasing the amount of GP tissue available in time to make fall crosses.

    Author(s): Mao Huang, Kelly R Robbins, Yaoguang Li, Schery Umanzor, Michael Marty-Rivera, David Bailey, Charles Yarish, Scott Lindell, Jean-Luc Jannink

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