Development of Native Kelp Culture System Technologies to Support Sea Vegetable Aquaculture in New England Coastal Waters

This Phase I research effort is to design and develop “seed” nursery methodologies for development of commercial-scale production of young kelp plants, specifically Saccharina latissima (Phase I), Alaria esculenta and Laminaria digitata (Phase II).The project objectives include: (1) Establishing unialgal cultures from wild-collected material, (2) Determining the key culture conditions that control and trigger progression through life history stages, (3) Designing a scalable modular culture system appropriate for commercial production of young kelp plants, and (4) Creating a detailed outline of the protocol for culture system operations as a foundation for a Phase II project objective of transferring the technology to the educational and commercial sectors.This project is a collaborative effort between Ocean Approved, The University of Connecticut and the Bridgeport Regional Aquaculture Science and Technology Education Center and supports the development of a new aquaculture sector, allowing the United States to participate in the $7 billion dollar cultivated sea vegetable market