Farming of Hypnea valentiae (Turner) Montagne at Minicoy Lagoon (Lakshadweep)

The red alga Hpea valentiae (Turn.) Mont. is one of the carrageenan producing seaweeds. Experiment was canied out at Minicoy Lagoon of Lakshadweep during 1998 to fmd out the feasibility of farming of H. valentiae. Two sites were selected in the intertidal zone of Minicoy lagoon, namely South end and Fisheries Jetty and farming was carried out in three seasons @re monsoon, monsoon and post monsoon). Single line bottom coir rope method was adopted for farming. The vegetative fragments of H. valentiae collected from wild were inserted between the twists of long coir ropes. Both ends of the ropes were tied to the coral stones and introduced in the intertidal waters of the lagoon. During the first harvest maximum yield of 6 fold increase was obtained in 37 days and in the second harvest during monsoon months 25 fold increase was recorded in 40 days. Large scale farming of H. valentiae without causing any damage to the lagoon ecosystem by adopting single bottom coir rope method may be taken up by the fIshmen during the lean fishing season.