NEW YORK MARINE BIOMASS PROGRAM‐CULTURE OF Laminaria saccharina

Abstract

A marine biomass program was initiated in New York in 1980. Preliminary screening studies indicated that Laminaria saccharina L. is a good candidate for growth in seaweed/rope culturing systems. numerous laboratory tank and field raft‐culture experiments have examined the relationships between growth and ambient light, temperature and nitrogen levels throughout the year. Laminaria sporophytes appear in the field during the spring and late summer. Maximum growth rate (up to 8%•day‐1) occurs in the fall and spring. During the winter months, growth continues at 0.5 to l%•day‐1 while temperatures range from ‐1 to 4°C. A rapid increase in growth rate is observed when temperatures approach 6°C in late March. Growth ceases during the summer months and mature blades erode from distal portions. Much of the field population disappears during the summer months, while plants on rafts show greater survival. During the summer months of 1983, a small‐scale rope culture farm will be deployed and stocked with young Laminaria sporophytes.

Seasonal Patterns of Sporophyte Growth, Fertility, Fouling, and Mortality ofSaccharina latissimain Skagerrak, Norway: Implications for Forest Recovery

“…• C [27]. Our results from the elongation studies in the deforested Skagerrak area are in concurrence with the patterns of growth described in the previously mentioned studies.…”

Temperature, phenology, and turf macroalgae drive seascape change: Connections to mid‐trophic level species

“…Concurrently, our study indicates that temperatures are regularly above the critical thermal growth and reproductive thresholds for kelps in which reproduction of the dominant kelp species, S. latissima, is limited above 16°C with 0% reproduction and high mortality occurring above 20°C (Chapman and Craigie 1977, Fortes and L€ uning 1980, Brinkhuis et al 1983). The pattern of low growth and reproduction at temperatures above 16°C and 20°C is also true for other native kelps (Laminaria digitata, Agarum clathratum; Bolton andL€ uning 1982, Simonson et al 2015).…”

“…To establish phenological changes in kelps, decadal temperature trends of degree days of 16°C, 20°C, and above were determined as these temperatures represent thermal limits for growth (20°C) and reproduction (16°C) of many kelp species, including the dominant kelp, Saccharina latissima (e.g., Brinkhuis et al 1983, Redmond 2013, Simonson et al 2015. Combined water temperatures recorded from the Western Gulf of Maine buoy, B01, and ones located at Appledore Island were used for all possible years from 1981 to 2018.…”

Opportunities, challenges and future directions of open-water seaweed aquaculture in the United States

“…The Marine Biomass Program in New York, USA, was initiated in 1980 with support from the GRI, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, New York Gas Group and the New York Sea Grant Institute (Brinkhuis & Hanisak 1981;Brinkhuis et al 1983Brinkhuis et al , 1984aBrinkhuis et al , 1984bBrinkhuis et al , 1987Squires & McKay 1983). After a thorough initial screening process to select seaweed species suitable for methane production, 'Laminaria saccharina' [now Saccharina latissima (Linnaeus) C.E.Lane, C.Mayes, Druehl & G.W.Saunders] was selected as the prime candidate for the Marine Biomass Program in New York (Brinkhuis et al 1987).…”

“…After numerous laboratory and tank experiments were conducted to determine optimal growth conditions for this alga (Brinkhuis et al 1984a), S. latissima seed-string was outplanted in an open-water farm using two different cultivation technologies: (1) the Chinese style of attaching individual plants by entwining stipes/holdfast with the line and (2) the Japanese method of inserting segments of seed-string into the culture rope. The kelps were cultivated at different depths at Crane Neck, Long Island, New York (Brinkhuis et al 1983(Brinkhuis et al , 1984a(Brinkhuis et al , 1987. In 1983, Brinkhuis and associates also developed a new seaweed farm design, the Biological Engineering Experimental Farm, and crossed gametophytes of Saccharina from different populations.…”