With the global drive to find sustainable sources of food, feeds, fuels and other products, attention has turned to developing and adapting large-scale suspended cultivation methods used in Asia for European waters ( Bruton et al., 2009 Kraan, 2010 Borines et al., 2011 Hughes et al., 2012b). Required technological modifications include mechanization of seeding and harvesting, year-round production based on a number of co-cultured species and scales that create running costs economies. However, due to the labor intensive nature of these systems and the low costs of such a large work force in China, technological modifications to reduce labor costs associated with cultivation will need to be developed in emerging seaweed producing countries in Europe ( Edwards and Watson, 2011). Growing systems for kelp species in China and the rest of Asia are very effective. Together these species account for 66% of the global production ( FAO, 2015).Īsian cultivation of brown seaweeds are characterized by a range of long-line techniques with vertical droppers similar growing techniques have been trialed successfully in Europe ( Peteiro and Freire, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013b Sanderson et al., 2012 Handa et al., 2013 Marinho et al., 2015 Peteiro et al., 2016). The top species produced are the brown algae Saccharina japonica (Japanese Kelp) and the red algae Eucheuma sp. Although a large proportion of the Chinese crop is sold dried for the food market ( McHugh, 2003), extracts derived from cultivated macroalgal species are now in a growing number of global consumer products ( Smit, 2004 Bixler and Porse, 2011) such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and foods. China is the biggest producer of brown algae, mainly cultivated kelp species. Global production has increased at a rate of 7.6% year -1 between 20 when an estimated 28.1 million tons were produced ( FAO, 2015). High demand has driven a rapid expansion in Asia in this form of aquaculture. Large-scale cultivation of seaweeds has been practiced in Asia for decades ( Cheng, 1969), but has only recently been a commercial activity in Europe ( FAO, 2014 Bostock et al., 2016). The development of large-scale seaweed aquaculture in Europe has the potential to play an important role in meeting future resource needs, but must do so in a manner that does not undermine the use and value of existing marine resources. Throughout the world, high demands on many natural resources necessitates the development of alternate resources to produce important commodities such as food, feed, fuel, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Whilst current small-scale cultivation projects are considered ‘low risk,’ an expansion of the industry that includes ‘large-scale’ cultivation will necessitate a more complete understanding of the scale dependent changes in order to balance environmental risks with the benefits that seaweed cultivation projects can offer. Recommended monitoring options are discussed that aim to address uncertainty and facilitate informed decision-making. Current high levels of uncertainty surrounding the true extent of some environmental changes mean conservative risk rankings are given. Environmental changes of greatest concern were identified to include: facilitation of disease, alteration of population genetics and wider alterations to the local physiochemical environment. Monitoring recommendations are made by risk ranking environmental changes, highlighting the current knowledge gaps and providing research priorities to address them. This is a systematic review of the ecosystem changes likely to be associated with a developing seaweed aquaculture industry. If this industry is to become established throughout Europe, then balancing the associated environmental risks with potential benefits will be necessary to ensure the carrying capacity of the receiving environments are not exceeded and conservation objects are not undermined.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |