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Cultivation of Gracilaria dura in the open sea along the southeast coast of India

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Abstract

Gracilaria dura is an important red alga having the potential for commercial farming. To cultivate this alga, the floating bamboo raft method was employed. The study was carried out during October 2010 to September 2012 at the southeastern coast of India. The impacts of seasonal variation, initial seed density, harvest period, depth, and epiphyte and epifauna attachment on the raft were analyzed. A clear seasonal trend was observed in the biomass yield in G. dura in this 2-year study. The highest biomass yield (2.01 ± 0.68 kg FW m−2) and daily growth rate (DGR; 3.17 ± 1.71 % day−1) were observed in winter (January to March). ANOVA results also showed no significant variations between DGR and biomass yield between the first and second year (p > 0.05). The algal biomass decreased during summer (April to June) due to high surface seawater temperature and tissue bleaching. Maximum biomass yield and DGR were observed at a low initial seed density of 50 propagules m−2 (2 kg raft−1) with 45 days of culture period. The rafts cultivated in submerged condition showed a high growth rate (2.31 ± 1.35 % day−1); however, it did not vary significantly with cultivation at the surface level. Grazing was observed to be most severe during the months of April to August by selective fishes like Pteroscirtes mitratus, Siganus canaliculatus, Pelates quadrilineatus, and Monodactylus kottelati; the crab Portunus pelagicus; and the isopod Cymodoce truncata. From the 2-year study, it was found that October to March is the ideal period for the large-scale cultivation of this alga.

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Acknowledgments

The financial support by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, is gratefully acknowledged. The authors expressed their sincere thanks to Dr. P. K. Ghosh, Director, CSMCRI for his keen interest in this study and providing facilities to carry out the experiments. The authors thank Dr. C. R. K. Reddy, group leader, seaweed group, CSMCRI, for his periodical review of the successful cultivation of G. dura. The authors also expressed their gratitude to Mr. K. Karthikeyan, Mr. B. Prince Vijay, and Mr. S. Sirajudeen, ex-project assistants, and Mr. A. Sathakku, ex-technical assistant, MARS, Mandapam for their contribution in cultivation. This contribution has CSIR-CSMCRI PRIS registration number 118/2014.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR-CSMCRI-Marine Algal Research Station, Mandapam, 623519, India

    V. Veeragurunathan, K. Eswaran, J. Malarvizhi & M. Gobalakrishnan

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), CSIR, New Delhi, 110 001, India

    V. Veeragurunathan & K. Eswaran

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  1. V. Veeragurunathan
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  3. J. Malarvizhi
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Veeragurunathan, V., Eswaran, K., Malarvizhi, J. et al. Cultivation of Gracilaria dura in the open sea along the southeast coast of India. J Appl Phycol 27, 2353–2365 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-014-0514-0

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