Page 17 - FAO Aquaculture News, May 2021 - No. 63

of Undaria. While the Undaria production in the Republic The development of Kappaphycus/Eucheuma farming
of Korea nearly doubled from 269 000 tonnes to 495 000 indicates that applications other than direct human
tonnes between 1990 and 2019, that of Japan declined consumption could drive significant seaweed development.
by more than half from 113 000 tonnes to 45 000 tonnes. However, key elements behind the success, such as
However, the increase of world Undaria cultivation by (i) being a competitive raw material to produce a unique
fivefold from 457 000 tonnes to 2.6 million tonnes was product with widespread applications that are difficult
primarily contributed by China whose 2 million tonnes to be replaced by substitute products and (ii) availability
of Undaria production in 2019 accounted for 79 percent of abundant farm sites and a large suitable labour force
Global Aquaculture Updates
of the world total. As the brown seaweed counterpart of to produce the material at low cost, are difficult to
Porphyra/Pyropia, Undaria is also primarily used for direct replicate. It is unclear which application(s) (for example
human consumption, and its price (USD 0.75/kg in 2019) pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic, animal feed,
was lower than that of Porphyra/Pyropia (USD 0.89/kg) but biofuel, biofertilizer/biostimulant, bio-packaging, textile
higher than kelp (USD 0.37/kg). fibres, carbon sequestration, among others) is most likely
to become the next milestone(s) in the seaweed revolution.
Prospects Yet persistent and painstaking efforts in innovations are
Despite the ever growing interest in seaweeds as human the ultimate key to jump starting the process leading to
food, it tends to take a long time for seaweeds to become the milestone(s).
a major source of protein or food energy for humanity
under normal circumstances. However, the experiences A key factor that has drawn increasing attention to
in Eastern Asia indicate that seaweeds could become seaweeds is the services they provide to our ecosystem.
nutritious sea vegetables commonly and frequently While growing a large amount of seaweed biomass and
consumed in many countries. Achieving this milestone burying them in the deep ocean as carbon sinks seems
entails joint efforts of stakeholders and experts in policy, to be a desperate last resort to buy time against climate
business and scientific communities to make seaweeds change, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA)
“acceptable”, “available” and “affordable”. Fostering the tends to be a more efficient way to cash in the ecosystem
3As will be a long-term process which nevertheless seems services of seaweeds. IMTA is conceptually appealing
to be gaining momentum. yet technically/economically challenging and has yet to
become a widely adopted farming system, yet there are
encouraging success stories (for example Sanggou Bay
11
in China). Therefore, widespread adoption of IMTA in
11. Fang, J., Zhang, J., Xiao, T., Huang, D. & Liu, S. 2016. Integrated multi- global aquaculture to integrate seaweed cultivation with
trophic aquaculture (IMTA) in Sanggou Bay, China. Aquacult Environ other farming activities could be a next milestone in the
Interact, 8: 201–205. https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00179
ongoing seaweed revolution.

©FAO/A. Stankus

Seamoss (Kappaphycus sp.) seen here in St Kitts and Nevis, is an important aquatic product for people across the Caribbean,
often processed into a health food drink.

16 FAO AQUACULTURE NEWS – Nº. 63 ■ MAY 2021