Development of a sustainable land-based Gracilaria cultivation system

doi:2014.29.3.217

Algae > Volume 29(3); 2014 > Article

Algae 2014;29(3): 217-225. doi: https://doi.org/10.4490/algae.2014.29.3.217

Jang K. Kim¹^,* and Charles Yarish²

¹Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, 1 University Place, Stamford, CT 06901, USA
²Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 1 University Place, Stamford, CT 06901, USA

*Corresponding Author

Email: jang.kim@uconn.edu

ABSTRACT

Land-based seaweed (Gracilaria) cultivation systems may provide products with high quality and biosafety for human consumption, as well as for other high value applications. However, a limitation for this land based system is high management costs. The objective of this study was to determine if the management costs for Gracilaria cultivation can be reduced without a decrease in productivity by using CO2 injection along with a high stocking density and high photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and commercially available fertilizers. When Gracilaria tikvahiae was cultivated at a high stocking density and high PAR, coupled with CO2 enhancement, the productivity was significantly higher than that at a lower stocking density, low light without CO2 injection. We also found that G. tikvahiae grown in a medium of commercially available fertilizer (Jack’s Special, JS) showed a similar growth rate and productivity to that grown in von Stosch's enriched (VSE) seawater, while the cost for JS media is only 2% of the cost for VSE. These results suggest that CO2 injection and commercial fertilizer may be a potential way to provide sustainability in land-based Gracilaria cultivation systems.

Key words: carbon dioxide; fertilizer; Gracilaria; land based aquaculture; nutrients, sustainability