Current state of seaweed resources in Spain

✍ Scribed by Tomás Gallardo; Miguel Alvarez Cobelas; Antonio Alvarez Meneses

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 342 KB
• Volume: 204-205
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1573-5141
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00040247

✦ Synopsis

Commercial seaweeds in Spain are harvested on the north and northwest coasts . They are mainly agarophytes and carrageenophytes (Gelidium spp . and some `Irish moss'-like species, respectively), although some Phaeophyceae species (Fucus spp . and Laminaria spp .) are also exploited for alginates . No industrial seaweed cultivation is carried out in Spain at present . Spain's total commercial seaweed harvest can be estimated at 6,528 ± 2,076 t dry wt year -'. Gelidium spp . are by far the most harvested, attaining 5,135 ± 1,761 t dry wt y -'. To date, Spain's commercial seaweed harvest is low compared with that of other countries, but data on field standing crops and productivities of commercial taxa suggest that harvesting could be increased greatly .