The Potencial of Seaweed Farming in Brazil

According to FAO in 2010, volumes of the order of 160,000 tons of Kappaphycus alvarezii seaweed were produced, with the main producing countries being the Philippines (89,000 tons), Indonesia (61,000 tons), Malaysia (4,000 ton), Vietnam (2,200 tons), Tanzania (1,500 tons), Kiribati (1,100 tons), China (800 tons) and India (400 tons). In this context, Kappaphycus alvarezii, a species cultivated in at least 30 countries, is the main raw material for obtaining kappa I carrageenan, an odorless, tasteless powder widely used in the food and cosmetics industry. In 2017, Brazil imported about 2,500 tons of carrageenan valued at US $ 22 million. Across the world the main carrageenan producing industries are: FMC BioPolymer, Hercules and Cargill (USA); Shemberg, Marcel (Philippines); Degussa SKW (Germany); CP Kelco (Denmark); Gelymar and Danisco (Chile); Rhodia Food (France) and Ceamsa (Spain). A clone of the K. alvarezii macroalgae from Japan was brought in 1995 by USP researcher Edison José de Paula, who introduced it experimentally in Ubatuba Island, north coast of São Paulo. The introduction of a species from another country was a response to the lack of native algae that was economically viable for mariculture. Since then, this species has proved to be an excellent choice because it is easy-touse and reproductive seaweed, a high daily growth rate, attractive market value, direct employment generation and an increase in family income, guaranteed sales in the national market, besides the potential of commercialization with other countries that import large volumes of this species.

Author(s): Miguel Sepulveda

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