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Reflections on the Commercial Development of Eucheumatoid Seaweed Farming

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Tropical Seaweed Farming Trends, Problems and Opportunities

Part of the book series: Developments in Applied Phycology ((DAPH,volume 9))

Abstract

The development of eucheumatoid seaweed agronomy is an outstanding example of widespread aquaculture that evolved from simple methods refined mainly by farmers in the sea. Innovations were stimulated, observed, recorded, modified and disseminated and driven toward commercial implementation by managerial, technical and scientific inputs from private- and public-sector organizations. The impetus for development was strong market demand from hydrocolloid manufacturers who desperately needed cultivated raw material sources by the 1960s. Such sources were required to augment, replace or complement limited supplies of seaweeds from wild stocks. Biomass selected from wild populations provided cultivars that formed the base for commercial seaweed farming. Cultivars were disseminated amongst farming locations through informal channels that often left the provenance of those “seedstocks” as a source of speculation, rather than with a basis in fact. Since the early 1960s, eucheumatoid seaweed production spread to several jurisdictions around the world, however, production volumes virtually leveled off to approximately 250,000 MT year−1 by about 2007 as the available seaweed supplies became adequate for the, by then, low-growth carrageenan markets. In what were effectively zero-sum carrageenan markets, production of raw materials came to be dominated by Indonesia and the Philippines. Indonesia attained the larger market share due to reduced production from the Philippines. During more than four decades of the development of eucheumatoid, seaweed agronomy, speculation flowed freely while the scientific testing of theories and hypotheses attracted little financial support. Innovation was minimal, not only in the field of seaweed agronomy, but also with respect to product and market development. It was mainly only within the last decade that commercial innovations commenced beyond the rheological applications of carrageenan and legacy agronomy production systems. These developments were initiated in regions as far-flung as India, Indonesia and Brazil. Such developments are seen as essential drivers for the next phase of commercial development and next-generation applications of the eucheumatoid seaweeds.

The varied chapters of this book fill in details of the historical narrative presented in the present chapter and they also describe some of the innovations that are driving step-changes in the industry as it evolves towards a promising, sustainable future.

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Acknowledgements

The authors have had the privilege of the experience of working with thousands of seaweed farmers and with numerous colleagues from both the private and the public sectors. We hope that this chapter does justice to their work and we apologize for any errors or omissions. Reflections such as these are necessarily somewhat subjective and are limited by the personal scope of authors such as ourselves who have been in the midst of many of the events written about here. We hope and trust that our reflections are complemented by the writings of reflections by colleagues from around the (seaweed) world!

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. PT Sea Six Energy Indonesia, Bali, Indonesia

    Iain C. Neish

  2. Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Miguel Sepulveda

  3. Integrated Services for the Development of Aquaculture and Fisheries (ISDA) Inc., McArthur Highway, Tabuc Suba Jaro, 5000, Iloilo City, Philippines

    Anicia Q. Hurtado

  4. The Evangeline Trail, Paradise, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Alan T. Critchley

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  1. Iain C. Neish
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  2. Miguel Sepulveda
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  3. Anicia Q. Hurtado
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  4. Alan T. Critchley
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Correspondence to Iain C. Neish .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Integrated Services for the Development of Aquaculture and Fisheries (ISDA) Inc., Jaro, Philippines

    Anicia Q. Hurtado

  2. The Evangeline Trail Paradise, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Alan T. Critchley

  3. PT Sea Six Energy Indonesia, Bali, Indonesia

    Iain C. Neish

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Neish, I.C., Sepulveda, M., Hurtado, A.Q., Critchley, A.T. (2017). Reflections on the Commercial Development of Eucheumatoid Seaweed Farming. In: Hurtado, A., Critchley, A., Neish, I. (eds) Tropical Seaweed Farming Trends, Problems and Opportunities. Developments in Applied Phycology, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63498-2_1

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