The North Sea Farm Foundation pioneers seaweed cultivation in the North Sea. This project addresses the economic prospects of up-scaled production of seaweed, looking at production costs only. Scenarios for future large-scale seaweed production are formulated and evaluated using the EnAlgae economic model. Additionally, Monte Carlo analysis is performed. Based on the findings, we conclude that a significant cost reduction seems possible, with expected cost prices down to €1,200 per ton DM. If all goes well, relatively low-value markets such as the alginate market are within reach. More realistically, a mix of low- and medium-value markets is needed to cover the costs of seaweed production in the North Sea. Current developments show that these markets exist; especially in the food market where seaweeds can be promoted as organic, sustainable and fair trade.
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Seaweeds are important economically since they yield agar, alginates and mucilages. They are invaluable as stockfood and manure. Some seaweeds have medicinal properties. Lastly certain seaweeds are edible and nutritious. The most abundant Indian seaweeds are those that yield agar and algin. The former comprise red alga: of the genera Gelidium, Sarconema, Gracilaria and Corallopsis.
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The two chief types of plants occurring in the marine environment are the algae and sea grasses. These are capable of synthesizing the complex organic substances from the simple inorganic compounds present in sea water. Sea grasses are the seed producing plants which fall into the botanical division of Spermatophyta, whereas marine algae are the primitive group of plants with no true roots, stems and leaves as observed in higher plants and these come under the division Thallophyta. This division also includes certain fungi and bacteria, the latter especially forming an important group in the organic productivity of the sea. Among the algae in the marine habitats, the microscopic and free floating or swimming forms are known as Phytoplankton.The other macroscopic or attached ones, which often grow in the intertidal and subtidal environments, are commonly referred to as Seaweeds.
Most of these marine algae or seaweeds are beautifully coloured and attached to rocks or grow on other plants as epiphytes. A few of them are buried inside the sand and sometimes occur as loose lying communities. Depending upon the type of pigment present in them and other morphological and anatomical characters, macroscopic algae are subdivided into the following four classes: 1.Green Algae (Chlorophyceae) 2. Brown Algae (Phaeophyceae) 3. Red Algae (Rhodophyceae) 4. Blue-green Algae (Myxophyceae) Algae belonging to the first three classes are treated here in detail since they constitute the vast majority of seaweeds of economic importance. Among the blue-green algae, some freshwater species of Nostoc are used as food gelly and many others are capable of fixing nitrogen and maintaining the fertility of the soil. Some information available on the marine flowering plants or sea grasses has also been included in this bulletin.
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Seaweed industry is a promising and flourishing industry in India. About 700 species of seaweeds have been reported from east and west coasts of India and from Lakshadweep and Andaman-Nicobar. They belong to four groups namely green, brown, red and blue-green algae. At present the seaweeds exploited from natural seaweed beds are used for agar and sodium alginate only. They can also be used for the production of other phytochemicals such as agarose, carrageenan and also for fertilizer, human food and animal feed. Though many species of seaweeds viz. Gelidiella acerosa, Gracilaria edulis, Gracilaria crassa, Gracilaria verrucosa, Sargassum spp. and Turbinaria spp. are harvested from the natural seaweed beds, the fishermen involved in their collection are not fully aware of these species and also other economically important seaweeds growing in the vicinity.
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The plants in the sea other than seagrasses—what we call seaweeds—belong to the simplest group of plants; the marine algae. With few exceptions, these plants are so simple that they have no distinguishable roots, stems or leaves. The algae vary in size from microscopic single-celled forms (eg. diatoms) to the giant macrophytes of temperate waters (Macrocystis, Nereocystis, etc).
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Gracilaria vermiculophylla is the dominant macrophyte in the Ria de Aveiro lagoon, Portugal (40°38′N, 8°43′W), which is a highly urbanized estuary impacted by oyster cultivation and finfish aquaculture. This study aimed to understand the success of G. vermiculophylla in estuaries by monitoring its abundance and phenology throughout an annual cycle. This species thrives in soft-bottom communities, mostly entangled in the substrate amongst dead bivalve shells and tubes of the polychaete Diopatra neopolitana but it may be also found free-floating; it is present year-round. Carposporophytes were found throughout the year and at all sampling locations. The life history of this taxon was completed in the laboratory. Spore germination and growth success were investigated in a fully factorial designed array of temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20 and 25°C), photoperiods (8, 12 and 16 h day-lengths) and photon flux densities (40 and 100 µmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹). Germination occurred under all conditions, being highest at 20°C under the long day treatment. Germination was lowest at 5°C, with no spore survival. The growth rates of the sporelings were affected by the interaction of the three factors tested. These were minimal at 10°C (2.21% ± 1.14 in 8-h days for tetrasporophytes and 2.60% ± 0.57 in 12-h days for gametophytes) and maximal at 20°C and long day treatments for both gametophyte and tetrasporophyte phases (9.96% ± 0.62 and 16.86% ± 0.73, respectively). No differences were found in the growth rates of the mature haploid or diploid phases. Gracilaria vermiculophylla is reproductive throughout the year. It attains high rates of germination and growth success under a wide range of environmental conditions. With such broad tolerances to environmental factors, G. vermiculophylla has a high invasive potential, which helps to explain its current dominance in the Ria de Aveiro lagoon.
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The overarching theme of this doctoral dissertation was to resolve the taxonomic status of an endemic narrow-bladed kelp, Saccharina latissima forma angustissima (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae), which has a very restricted distribution of 8 nautical miles in the Gulf of Maine, USA. Since the kelp only grows on ledges and islands exposed to high ocean swells, it was unknown if phenotypic plasticity alone was driving its morphology or if the kelp was a distinct genotype (a population with heritable traits). I incorporated lab and fieldwork to discriminate genetic divergence of this kelp, investigated temperature and light requirements of the gametophytic and juvenile sporophytic stages, and its potential use for sustainable aquaculture. The final objective was to tease apart existing relationships of parapatric speciation, where gene flow is limited by the extreme habitat.
In Chapter 1, I used a multi-locus genetic approach to answer questions about the phylogenetic placement of S. latissima f angustissima. The results revealed the need for a new combination and status elevation to Saccharina angustissima comb. nov. & stat. nov. (Collins) Augyte, Yarish & Neefus. In Chapter 2, I examined the ecophysiological temperature and light tolerance of its early developmental stages, specifically looking at the response of gametophytes and juvenile sporophytes. For Chapter 3, I worked with two aquaculture companies in the Gulf of Maine to domesticate and commercially cultivate S. angustissima at two farm sites and provide data on morphometric traits, biomass yields, blade tissue analysis and ecosystem services. In the last Chapter 4, using microsatellite data, I investigated the population genetic structure of S. latissima and S. angustissima in across four sites in the Northwest Atlantic and found some genetic differentiation between the two species as well as between other S. latissima populations in Long Island Sound and the Gulf of Maine.
In conclusion, directional selection has propelled this unique kelp to persist and colonize an extreme ecological niche and speciate. This reproductive isolation has led to incipient speciation of a Saccharina sp. in the Northwest Atlantic. Finally, as a result of my efforts there has been the domestication of a new kelp crop in New England.
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Seagrass beds are of exceptional economic, ecological and social value in the Coral Triangle. The large number of people who live close to the coast and rely directly on marine resources for food and income paradoxically increases the value of, but also the threats to, these ecosystems. A key strategy of the Coral Triangle Initiative is to protect shallow coastal ecosystems through the design and implementation of resilient networks of marine protected areas (MPAs). This strategy requires accurate spatial data on the distribution and extent of coastal habitats (coral reef, seagrass and mangrove) at scales which match conservation planning decisions. In the Coral Triangle, seagrass distribution maps are not readily available at ecoregional scales. The Lesser Sunda ecoregion, extending from Bali, Indonesia to Timor-Leste, is one of 11 ecoregions of the Coral Triangle and a high priority for conservation and sustainable management of marine resources. To support the design of a resilient MPA network for the Lesser Sunda ecoregion, a seagrass distribution map was generated based on Landsat imagery, literature review and groundtruth data. Seagrass beds were estimated to cover an area of 273 km2 at an overall accuracy of 78%. Use of the seagrass distribution map in the MPA design improved the habitat representation and connectivity e key criteria for resilient MPA design. The final MPA design included 80 km2 of seagrass beds, with more than half the beds adjacent to coral reefs and mangroves. This study demonstrates the effective use of Landsat imagery and remote sensing techniques to derive ecoregional scale seagrass maps supporting MPA network design.
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Conceptual and numerical models are essential tools in managing and protecting coastal ecosystems. Models may be used in economic, social, and ecosystem simulations for many purposes, including aquaculture design, siting, and operation; ecosystem management and risk assessment; and integration of sustainable mariculture into restoration and management of coastal ecosystems.
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This study focuses on assessing the scientific knowledge of the linkages between ecosystem services and poverty alleviation in coastal and marine ecosystems. It does not seek to undertake new analysis per se, but rather to assess existing data, to consider how they can be used to address these linkages, and to identify the key gaps in knowledge and capacities in research, knowledge generation and application to policy. At the outset there are a number of important definitional and ‘boundary issues’ which preface this study. First, what are the boundaries of coastal and marine systems? Second, what is the most appropriate measure of poverty? Third, how valid is it to separate individual ecosystem services? These issues influence how existing data can be used and their compatibility. For example, in examining the incidence of poverty among people who are dependent on coastal and marine ecosystem services, how can existing national or cross-national or global data be disaggregated or interpreted? How far inland should watersheds be analysed in order to understand coastal processes and ecosystem services? How can the important interactions between marine, coastal and other terrestrial systems be integrated to understand change in ecosystem services? In the report, the examples of Bangladesh, and the special case of small island developing states (SIDS) are used to illustrate these points. Key messages emerging from the assessment are:
1. The poor have had minimal impacts overall on changes in ecosystem services and have also received a disproportionately small share of the benefits of ecosystem services in coastal and marine systems. However, in particular locations, the unsustainable use by poor stakeholders who have limited options is a major driver of degradation of ecosystem services.
2. The poor prioritise provisioning services over all other ecosystem services, and identify the most important benefits from these services as being cash, food and employment, which are not explicitly and separately considered in the Millennium Assessment conceptual framework.
3. Many other ecosystem services are not of direct relevance to the poor and have no straightforward or simple role in alleviating poverty. Supporting services for the provisioning and regulating services are recognised by poor people. Very often their role in protecting livelihoods is extremely important, for example providing the basis to support provisioning services, in protecting homes, providing clean water and moderating environmental risks, but their role in active poverty alleviation is not direct and sometimes much less clear than provisioning services.
4. Most data are available on direct use of provisioning services but the information is patchy and very rarely relates specifically to poor, vulnerable or marginalised sections of society.
5. There are few examples of mechanisms to enhance ecosystem services and alleviate poverty; and very little precise information to show exactly how ecosystem services can contribute towards poverty alleviation. For example, this is not a topic usually addressed in country PRSPs. There are some, limited, suggestions of how payments for environmental services (PES), marine protected areas (MPAs) or community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) may provide benefits, but no systematic or comprehensive analysis exists to adequately guide policy. There are many assumptions about the co-benefits of conserving ecosystem services and the potential knock-on effects on poverty alleviation, but few concrete instances from which lessons can be learned or practices transferred. In many cases, there may be a conflict between income generation for poverty alleviation with the short term and long term sustainability of resources and maintenance of biodiversity.
6. There is evidence of shifting patterns of dependence on ecosystem services and shifting vulnerabilities to change in ecosystem services. This relates to where poor people live – for example increasing number of people concentrated in urban coastal areas in many countries and regions; how people construct their livelihoods – related to patterns of diversification and specialisation and movements in and out of fishing; processes of globalisation and changing access and exploitation, particularly penetration by global markets (e.g. aquaculture transforming coastline, and industrial fishing exploiting sea), each of which potentially puts poor people at risk.
7. The rate and scale of many changes to ecological and social and economic systems are accelerating and are often non-linear and not easily predicted. Current examples include the causes and impacts of fuel and food crises. Other important drivers may be slowing in some regions, for example population growth.
8. There are many and significant knowledge gaps, including about how the flows of ecosystem services are linked to the stocks of ecosystems, processes and rates of change, complex causality, behavioural responses, economic responses and social impacts of change.
9. How knowledge is managed is equally important. There is an overwhelming lack of integration of knowledge on ecosystem services and poverty; rarely is information on ecosystem services and poverty generated, analysed, stored or utilised jointly by same institutions in developing countries. Secondly, knowledge is not shared between and within countries, and there are widespread difficulties with lack of access to existing information. This is not only about data rich countries versus data poor countries, or major international donors or developed country institutions restricting access; often key individuals within countries restrict access to data, becoming gatekeepers of knowledge.
10. The scale of analysis is important and there are scale mis-matches and inconsistencies in interrogating the linkages between ecosystem services and poverty alleviation, meaning there is potential for contradictory results depending on the scale lens employed. The analysis of vulnerability to changes in ecosystem services is an example. It is important to consider multiple and cross-scale analysis as each scale has inherent biases and different processes operate at each scale.
11. Governance of ecosystems and of the socioeconomic context of ecosystem services use by the poor is fundamental to the benefits from, and sustainability of, ecosystem services. In many developing countries, policies on environmental protection are weak or poorly integrated. Decisions on ecosystem use are often not accountable to poor and corruption and vested interests lead to the needs and desires of marginalised people being ignored at various scales from national-scale policy decisions to village level elite capture of benefits. Governance of ecosystem services is influenced by global markets, donor policies, internal country politics and powerful commercial interests.
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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.