Gracilaria Culture Handbook for New England

The seaweeds are a diverse group of large marine macroalgae that are as important to the marine world as land plants are to our terrestrial world.  Seaweeds were the precursors to land plants, and like land plants, they are critical primary producers, forming living links between the inorganic and the organic world, using photosynthesis to convert CO2 and nutrients into living biomass.  These primary producers support and encourage other marine life through the production of oxygen, contribution to marine food webs, and by providing structure and habitat for refuge, breeding, and nursery grounds for fish and invertebrates.  Seaweeds are an important resource for humans.  Coastal peoples have always utilized seaweeds for food, minerals, medicine, fertilizer and fodder, and these sea-plants continue to provide for an everincreasing world population.  A multi-billion dollar industry worldwide, seaweeds are consumed as nutritious sea vegetables, processed to extract valuable phycocolloids including agar, carrageenan, and alginate, and utilized in the agricultural industries for animal fodder or plant fertilizers.