Kelps in Korea: from population structure to aquaculture to potential carbon sequestration

Hwang, Eun Kyoung; Boo, Ga Hun; Graf, Louis; Yarish, Charles; Yoon, Hwan Su; Kim, Jang Kyun; Hwang, Eun Kyoung; Boo, Ga Hun; Graf, Louis; Yarish, Charles; Yoon, Hwan Su; Kim, Jang Kyun

doi:2022.37.2.85

Algae > Volume 37(2); 2022 > Article

Review

Algae 2022;37(2): 85-103. doi: https://doi.org/10.4490/algae.2022.37.3.3

Kelps in Korea: from population structure to aquaculture to potential carbon sequestration

Eun Kyoung Hwang¹, Ga Hun Boo², Louis Graf², Charles Yarish³, Hwan Su Yoon^2,*, Jang Kyun Kim^4,*

¹Fisheries Seed and Breeding Research Institute, National Institute of Fisheries Science, Haenam 59002, Korea
²Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea
³Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, CT 06901, USA
⁴Department of Marine Science, Incheon National University, Incheon 22012, Korea

*Corresponding Author

Hwan Su Yoon,
Email: hsyoon2011@skku.edu
Jang Kyun Kim, Tel: +82-32-835-8877, Fax: +82-32-835-0806,
Email: jang.kim@inu.ac.kr

Received: January 10, 2022; Accepted: March 3, 2022. Published online: June 21, 2022.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

Korea is one of the most advanced countries in kelp aquaculture. The brown algae, Undaria pinnatifida and Saccharina japonica are major aquaculture species and have been principally utilized for human food and abalone feed in Korea. This review discusses the diversity, population structure and genomics of kelps. In addition, we have introduced new cultivar development efforts considering climate change, and potential carbon sequestration of kelp aquaculture in Korea. U. pinnatifida showed high diversity within the natural populations but reduced genetic diversity in cultivars. However, very few studies of S. japonica have been conducted in terms of population structure. Since studies on cultivar development began in early 2000s, five U. pinnatifida and one S. japonica varieties have been registered to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). To meet the demands for seaweed biomass in various industries, more cultivars should be developed with specific traits to meet application demands. Additionally, cultivation technologies should be diversified, such as integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) and offshore aquaculture, to achieve environmental and economic sustainability. These kelps are anticipated to be important sources of blue carbon in Korea.

Key words: aquaculture; climate change; cultivar; genetics; population structure; Saccharina japonica; Undaria pinnatifida