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Testing sustainable management in Northern Chile: harvesting Macrocystis pyrifera (Phaeophyceae, Laminariales). A case study

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Abstract

Kelp harvesting in northern Chile is managed by local fishermen and is part of an organized industry. However, the lack of standardized harvesting protocols has made regulation difficult. This, in combination with the impacts of oceanographic disturbances has resulted in some kelp populations being considerably reduced during the last decade. Consequently, harvest methods that maintain kelp resources are sorely needed if harvesting is to remain a viable industry in Chile. Here, experiments were done to identify sustainable methods for harvesting Macrocystis pyrifera along the coast of northern Chile. Three methods were compared with regard to their impacts on kelp populations; one that involves extracting half of the fronds from each individual in a population, one that involves extracting all the fronds from half of the individuals in a population, and a third that involves extracting all the fronds from all of the individuals in a population (i.e., the method currently used). Following this, populations were evaluated over a 2-month period to monitor re-growth of the remaining individuals and recruitment of new individuals, as well as changes in understory algal diversity and herbivore abundance. Our results indicate that removing half of the fronds from each individual in a population was the best method for maintaining the resource for future harvest because, it (1) maintains rapid growth of new fronds on the harvested individuals, (2) promotes recruitment of new individuals, and (3) reduces herbivore densities through physical abrasion. Consequently, this method is recommended for future harvesting of M. pyrifera in Northern Chile.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Andres Deza for diving assistance in Chile, and the LABECO from the Universidad Católica del Norte, specially Alonso Vega and Nicole Piaget. We acknowledge the BEER PIGs at San Diego State University for the partial funding and help. Financial support was also given by the National Commission of Sciences and Technology (CONICYT) from Chile under the human capital scholarship for graduate studies. We thank the dive center Memo Ruz for the logistical support and Eduardo Rodriguez for digital help. Finally and most important, we thank the fishermen community of Punta Choros for their support and help specially the Bolbaran's Family: Sole grande, Sole chica, Marina, Tio Dogui and my great friend Josue. This is contribution number XX to SDSU's Coastal and Marine Institute Laboratory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile drive, San Diego, CA, 92182, USA

    Renato Borras-Chavez & Matthew Edwards

  2. Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Departamento de Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Larrondo 1281, Coquimbo, Chile

    Julio A. Vásquez

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  1. Renato Borras-Chavez
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  2. Matthew Edwards
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Correspondence to Renato Borras-Chavez.

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Borras-Chavez, R., Edwards, M. & Vásquez, J.A. Testing sustainable management in Northern Chile: harvesting Macrocystis pyrifera (Phaeophyceae, Laminariales). A case study. J Appl Phycol 24, 1655–1665 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-012-9829-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-012-9829-x

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