Seaweed on shore constitute a pollution issue in paces where it is deposited. (Photo: Inapesca)

Biotechnology developed to use onshore seaweed

MEXICO
Wednesday, August 26, 2015, 02:10 (GMT + 9)

A team of researchers from the National Fisheries Institute (INAPESCA) is working on the development of biotechnology for the use of seaweed on shore that is produced off Baja California peninsula coast.

While this type of seaweed is related to a pollution issue on places where they are deposited, researchers have proved that they can be processed and used as food for many species – sea urchin, abalone, several varieties of farmed fish and shrimp, among others -- in aquaculture farms of the region, stated Enrique Hernandez Garibay, project leader.

The initiative also involves experts from the Autonomous University of Baja California and from the company Algas y Extractos del Pacífico Norte.

Some seaweed species are used as food or food supplement. In addition, they are also a source rich in bioactive compounds (polyunsaturated fatty acids, sulfated polysaccharides, antioxidant compounds, etc.), whose function is to eliminate free radicals, lower cholesterol, blood pressure, antitumor and anticancer, among other issues.

In the specific case of seaweed on shore, if they are used as soon as the sea dumps them, they can be an alternative feeding technique used during the fattening process of organisms in aquaculture production centres in Mexico, stresses INAPESCA.

As part of the study, monthly monitoring activities were made of this seaweed conducted in different locations in Baja California. After that, the enzymes of herbivorous marine organisms (sea hare, sea urchin and abalone) were isolated in laboratory and digestibility trials were carried out using macroalgae as substrate.

It must be noted that since old times, seaweed on shore is used as soil improvers in some coastal areas. Large seaweed biomass that the sea dumps out is placed on arid --rocky or sandy – soils and after a while a layer of humus is formed, which is ideal to stand the various agricultural activities.

In some parts of the world this seaweed is also used to make fishmeal and to produce agricultural fertilizers.

editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media

Print