Offshore cultivation methods affects blade features of the edible seaweed Saccharina latissima in a bay of Galicia, Northwest Spain

Changes in blade morphology of Saccharina latissima may be of importance for its commercial cultivation. Blade features were compared between the cultivation in horizontal rope and in hanging rope during its reproduction period (early autumn and early spring of next year). Cultivation experiments were conducted from February on a sheltered coastal area of a bay of Galicia (N.W. Spain). According to the results, the morphological differences were significant in area of blade which affected to blade biomass, although only significantly during the reproduction period of early spring. Moreover, the cultivation method significantly affects always significantly to “substantiality value”, an index that express the blade quality for human consumption. The variation in morphological features of S. latissima blade seems that were caused by different hydrodynamics of both cultivation methods.