Not listed
CURRENT ISSUE AND OPPORTUNITY. SEAWEEDS ARE LARGE, PLANT-LIKE ALGAE THAT GROW IN THE OCEAN. NEARLY 30% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION ON A MASS BASIS COMES FROM SEAWEED, MAINLY FROM BROWN AND RED SEAWEEDS. IN 2019, OVER 35 MILLION WET TONS OF SEAWEED WERE PRODUCED GLOBALLY THROUGH AQUACULTURE, MAINLY BY ASIAN COUNTRIES INCLUDING CHINA, INDONESIA, JAPAN, AND KOREA. UNFORTUNATELY, THE U.S. CONTRIBUTED LESS THAN 0.1% OF THIS TOTAL. GRACILARIA, A RED SEAWEED, MERITS CONSIDERATION AS A PRIORITY EMERGING CANDIDATE FOR AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. GRACILARIA SPECIES ARE RICH IN PROTEINS, CARBOHYDRATES, AND A DIVERSE ARRAY OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS INCLUDING ANTIOXIDANTS. THEY ARE A QUALITY SOURCE OF FOOD, FOOD INGREDIENTS, AND VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS SUCH PHYCOCOLLOIDS USED AS THICKENERS IN A VARIETY OF CONSUMER PRODUCTS. G. PACIFICA IS USED AS AQUACULTURE FEED FOR ABALONE, AND GRACILARIA SPECIES CAN ALSO BE INTEGRATED INTO MULTI-TROPHIC AQUACULTURE (IMTA) SYSTEMS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO RESTORATIVE AQUACULTURE PRACTICES.A CRITICAL BARRIER TO RED SEAWEED AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN THE US IS THAT THE PRACTICES USED IN ASIAN COUNTRIES TO ACHIEVE SCALE AND LOW COST CANNOT BE DUPLICATED IN US COASTAL REGIONS. FOR EXAMPLE, GRACILARIA SPECIES IN ASIA ARE CULTIVATED THROUGH MANUALLY-INTENSIVE INOCULATION AND CULTIVATION, AND HARVESTING PRACTICES IN THE NEARSHORE MARINE ENVIRONMENT, SUCH AS PLANTING IN SHALLOW PONDS WHERE SEAWEED PLANTLETS ARE MANUALLY TIED TO ROPE LINES. ALTHOUGH THESE OPERATIONS HAVE LOW PRODUCTIVITY, THEY ARE ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE IN MANY COUNTRIES BECAUSE LABOR COSTS ARE RELATIVELY LOW, ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS ARE RELAXED, AND THE NEARSHORE ENVIRONMENT IS MADE AVAILABLE FOR MASS CULTIVATION HOWEVER, IN THE US MARINE COASTAL WATERS, MORE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION AND NATURAL RESOURCE POLICY FACTORS COME INTO PLAY, AND A LOW-COST MANUAL LABOR POOL IS NOT READILY AVAILABLE. THEREFORE, TO WORK AROUND THESE ISSUES, THIS PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON LAND-BASED CULTIVATION OF RED SEAWEEDS, USING ENGINEERED APPROACHES THAT AUTOMATE AND INTENSIFY THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE GROW-OUT PROCESS.METHODS AND APPROACHES. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE SYSTEMS FOR INTENSIFIED PRODUCTION OF COMMERCIALLY-SIGNIFICANT RED SEAWEED IN LAND-BASED CULTIVATION SYSTEMS. AS DESCRIBED ABOVE, GRACILARIA SPECIES ARE A SOURCE FOOD AS WELL AS PLANT-BASED PROTEINS AND INDUSTRIAL PHYCO-COLLOIDS, WHICH TOGETHER CONSTITUTE NEARLY 90% OF BIOMASS DRY ORGANIC WEIGHT. THE BIOMASS IS PRODUCED USING NON-POTABLE SEAWATER, CARBON DIOXIDE FROM AIR OR WASTE COMBUSTION GASES, AND SUNLIGHT. THIS PROPOSED PROJECT WILL ADDRESS THE USDA AQUACULTURE PROGRAM AREA PRIORITY RELEVANT TO THE DESIGN OF ENVIRONMENTALLY AND ECONOMICALLY SUSTAINABLE COMMERCIAL AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS, FOCUSING ON THE COMMERCIALLY-SIGNIFICANT RED SEAWEED GRACILARIA AS MODEL SYSTEM.THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL FOCUS ON THE COMBINATION OF BIOLOGICAL AND ENGINEERING A,PPROACHES TO AUTOMATE AND INTENSIFY THE GROW OUT PROCESSES IN LAND-BASED RECIRCULATING TANKS, RESULTING IN INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY AND LABOR-SAVING PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES DESIGNED TO REDUCE RISK FOR ADVANCING THE NASCENT RED SEAWEED AQUACULTURE ENTERPRISE IN THE UNITED STATES. AS PART OF THIS EFFORT, ROBUST CULTIVARS FOR GRACILARIA SPECIES OF EMERGING COMMERCIAL SIGNIFICANCE, G. PACIFICA AND G. PARVISPORA WILL BE ESTABLISHED, AND SCALABLE PROCESSES TO GROW THESE GRACILARIA STRAINS ON MODULAR MESH PANELS WILL BE DEVELOPED. THESE GRACILARIA PANELS WILL BE TESTED RELEVANT INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENTS IN COLLABORATION WITH OUR PRIVATE PARTNER OREGON SEAWEED TO ASSESS PRODUCTIVITY AND PRODUCT QUALITY. BASED ON THE TEST RESULTS, ECONOMIC ANALYSES WILL BE PERFORMED TO ESTIMATE COSTS AND TARGET TECHNICAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR FURTHER COST REDUCTION.THE PROJECT INCLUDES EXTENSION AND OUTREACH EFFORTS TO SUPPORT AND PROMOTE THE NASCENT RED SEAWEED AQUACULTURE ENTERPRISE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION, INCLUDING THE INITIATION OF A RED SEAWEED AQUACULTURE LEARNING GROUP AND A DELIVERY OF A WORKSHOP FOCUSED ON LAND-BASED AQUACULTURE OF RED SEAWEEDS.ULTIMATE GOAL. THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO ESTABLISH LAND-BASED CULTIVATION OF COMMERCIALLY-SIGNIFICANT RED SEAWEEDS AS A TECHNICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY VIABLE AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISE FOR THE UNITED STATES. IF SUCCESSFUL, THESE PROCESSES WILL CREATE JOBS, PARTICULARLY IN RURAL COASTAL REGIONS, AND PROVIDE A STEADY SUPPLY OF PLANT-BASED PROTEINS FOR FEEDING A HEALTHY POPULATION.
$300.0k 5/22/23