Page 277 - Algae

260 Algae: Anatomy, Biochemistry, and Biotechnology

wet tons in 1999. This red macroalgae has a promising future due to its high commercial value, which
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in 2001 was at about US$30kg d.w. However, knowledge of its biology is limited and research
project have been funded for the management of the natural resources and opportunities for cultivation.

Heterokontophyta
Alaria esculenta, is a large brown kelp, which grows in the upper limit of the sublittoral zone
(Figure 7.5). It is known as winged kelp. It has a wide distribution in cold waters and does not
survive above 168C. It is found in areas such as Ireland, Scotland (U.K.), Iceland, Brittany
(France), Norway, Nova Scotia (Canada), Sakhalin (Russia), and northern Hokkaido (Japan). In
Ireland it grows up to 4 m in length and favors wave-exposed rocky reefs all around the Irish
coast. Eaten in Ireland, Scotland (U.K.), and Iceland either fresh or cooked, it is said to have
the best protein among the kelps and is also rich in trace metals and vitamins, especially niacin.
It is usually collected from the wild and eaten by local people, and while it has been successfully
cultivated, this has not been extended to a commercial scale.
China is the largest producer of edible macroalgae, harvesting about 5 million wet tons
annually. The greater part of this is for haidai, produced from hundreds of hectares of the brown
macroalga Laminaria japonica (Figure 7.6). It is a large macroalga, usually 2–5 m long, but it

FIGURE 7.5 Frond of Alaria esculenta.