BROADCAST SEEDING METHODS FOR MAROALGAL MARICULTURE

COMMERCIAL MARICULTURE OF MACROALGAE AND SESSILE ANIMALS, AS CURRENTLY PRACTICED, INVOLVES LABOR-INTENSIVE, CONTROLLED SETTLING OF SPORES OR LARVAE ON CLEAN ROPE, NETTING, OR SHELLS. THESE SUBSTRATES ARE THEN PLACED ON FARMS IN THE SEA. IN CONTRAST, NATURAL PROPAGATION OF NEARLY ALL MARINE ORGANISMS INVOLVES THE BROADCASTING OF MICROSCOPIC SPORES, GAMETES, OR LARVAE, THAT ARE ADAPTED TO ATTACH AND SURVIVE IN THE CALM BOUNDARY LAYER ADJACENT TO THE SEA FLOOR. THE SEA GRASSES ARE EXCEPTIONAL IN THAT MORPHOLOGICALLY DISTINCTIVE MACROSCOPIC SEEDS ARE PROUCED AND DISPERSE, IN SOME CASES BECOMING HOOKED ON, OR ENTANGLED WITH, "TARGET" ORGANISMS. WE PROPOSE TO CAREFULLY STUDY THE HYDRODYNAMIC AND ATTACHMENT ADAPTATIONS OF THESE SEEDS AND FABRICATED MACROSCOPIC PROPAGULES. WE WILL COMPARE THE PERFORMANCE OF NATURALLY-PRODUCED SEEDS AND SEED-ANALOGS IN LABORATORY AND FIELD TESTS. IN VIEW OF THE COST ADVANTAGES OF BROADCAST SEEDING, AND THE AVAILABILITY OF NATURAL TARGET SUBSTRATES IN MANY NEARSHIRE HABITATS, THERE IS LIKELY TO BE CONSIDERABLE COMMERCIAL INTEREST IN A NEW, BROADCAST SEEDING TECHNOLOGY, BOTH IN THE U.S. AND ABROAD.