CULTIVATION OF GRACILARIA IN OUTDOOR TANKS AND PONDS

This review deals with the major problems of unattached Gracilaria intensive cultivation in outdoor tanks and ponds. These problems are presented through the main variables affecting the Gracilaria annual yield and the updated solutions evolved. The physical variables include tank and pond structure, seawater characteristics such as velocity, agitation practice, exchange rate, and salinity, light characteristics such as quantity and quality, and temperature modelling. The chemical variables include nutrient composition and regime of application, and inorganic carbon supply with the pH changes involved. The biological variables include seaweed density, epiphyte competition, grazer damage, bacterial disintegration, integrated mariculture and strain selection. The experience gained in the Israeli research on Gracilaria cultivation is discussed in view of other Gracilaria and seaweed intensive cultivation research.