Seaweed Bioremediation

Commercial cultivation of seaweed is big business - carageenan, agar, fertilisers and vitamins are all produced from seaweed extracts - and increasingly the environmental benefits of seaweed aquaculture are being exploited in other areas (the-scientist.com, 29 October). Intensive fish farming produces large quantities of effluent and food waste, which contributes to pollution and can trigger toxic algal blooms, but cultivating seaweed farms alongside fish stocks can bioremediate contaminated waters as the seaweed grow on the effluent. This `polyculture' approach contributes to biodiversity and better management of marine resources while also producing a commercially valuable crop. Genetic engineering techniques are now being used to produce seaweed species with greatly increased growth rates, which can be rapidly cultivated in areas of coastal pollution.

Source : AIBA, (TRENDS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY, JANUARY 2002, Vol. 20, No. 1 p. 6)