The Evolution Road of Seaweed Aquaculture:Cultivation Technologies and the Industry 4.0

Seaweeds (marine macroalgae) are autotrophic organisms capable of producing manycompounds of interest. For a long time, seaweeds have been seen as a great nutritional resource,primarily in Asian countries to later gain importance in Europe and South America, as well as inNorth America and Australia. It has been reported that edible seaweeds are rich in proteins, lipids anddietary fibers. Moreover, they have plenty of bioactive molecules that can be applied in nutraceutical,pharmaceutical and cosmetic areas. There are historical registers of harvest and cultivation ofseaweeds but with the increment of the studies of seaweeds and their valuable compounds, theiraquaculture has increased. The methodology of cultivation varies from onshore to offshore. Seaweedscan also be part of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), which has great opportunitiesbut is also very challenging to the farmers. This multidisciplinary field applied to the seaweedaquaculture is very promising to improve the methods and techniques; this area is developed underthe denominated industry 4.0.