Commercial cultivation of Carrageen Moss ( Chondrus crispus); a novel species for aquaculture

Mr Jim Morrissey (2002-2004) in co-operation with the Roaring Water Bay Seaweed Co-op. Funded by Enterprise Ireland RIF award

Recent demand for Chondrus crispus is high reflecting the expanding domestic and international markets for health food as well as its increasing use in biotechnology. In 2001, sales enquiries for a massive 700 tonnes of Chondrus (worth €2 million) were received by Irish companies. Unfortunately, most of these sales opportunities were lost due to insufficient supply (the current annual Irish harvest of Chondrus being only 50-70 tonnes). Against this background of strong demand, an increase in production would be absorbed by expanding markets. However, with numbers of seaweed pickers actually dropping lower harvests are forecast. Consequently, the development of viable cultivation techniques for Chondrus is an important step to safeguard and increase future production to bridge the widening gap between supply and demand.

A Chondrus spore seeding unit

The commercially-important seaweed Chondrus crispus will be cultivated using novel cultivation methods, one which transplants fragments of wild plants onto ropes suspended on longlines, to outgrow to a commercial size at sea. In tandem, a second method will be developed for seeding ropes by releasing spores of tetrasporophytic plants in the laboratory, after which the seed ropes are deployed on long lines at sea for outgrowing to commercial size. Technical goals are to develop and compare two methods of seeding in a pilot-scale trial. The anticipated output is a capacity to produce commercially-sized seaweed in a quick and convenient (easily harvestable) manner.

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