The Caribbean’s small countries and island nations are experiencing a loss of resources due to climate change, nutrient pollution, ocean acidification, seagrass bed habitat loss, fishing pressure, and lost tourism revenues due to COVID-19. W ell-managed development and growth of tropical seaweed aquaculture in the region may help to assuage these issues while also providing a new source of seaweed biomass for the existing carrageenan, new food and textile and possibly future biofuel markets. We are exploring the opportunities for expanded seaweed aquaculture in the Caribbean
and the Gulf of Mexico in collaboration with partners at 15 institutions and research sites in Puerto Rico, Florida, and Belize. Together we are prototyping cultivation systems that
allow farms to be deployed in offshore areas, creating tools to mechanize seeding and harvesting, assessing the environmental impacts of these farm systems, characterizing the growth and composition of tropical algae in near and offshore environments, and conducting economic and life cycle analyses of macroalgal aquaculture systems in this region.
F indings from these efforts will be tailored to the conditions in the Caribbean and The Gulf of Mexico and be adaptable for other locations with similar environmental threats or needs for alternative marine livelihoods.
In this presentation
we will explain how insight from our field research is being
combined with consultation from local stakeholders to
guide the development of Ecological Best Management Practices (BMP) for seaweed aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea . Our intention is that these ecological BMPs will support prospective seaweed farmers, resource managers, and buyers through ecologically and socially responsible decision-making around seaweed aquaculture. Fostering sustainable
expansion of Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico macroalgal cultivation will encourage production in these regions to expand beyond the existing small-scale farms producing seaweed for artisanal beverage and cosmeceutical markets. Establishing l arger-scale farms in a responsible manner will enable production of
algal biomass for additional local and global markets and
allow resource managers to consider seaweed farming as an extractive component of an integrated water quality management strategy .