OILGAL PRODUCTION FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT May 1980 - December 1986 Prepared by: Michael Neushul NEUSHUL MARICULTURE INCORPORATED 475 Kellogg Way, Goleta California 93117 For : GAS RESEARCH INSTITUTE 8600 West Bryn Mawr Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60631 GRI Project Manager: H. Ronald Isaacson Advanced Biotechnology GRI Contract Number: 5083-226-0802-5 Efffective Date of Project: May 1, 1980 to December 31, 1986 Date of Report: March 1987 GRI DISCLAIHER LEGAL NOTICE: This report was prepared by Neushul Mariculture Incorporated (NMI) as an account of work sponsored by the Gas Research Institute (GRI). Neither GRI, members of GRII nor any person acting on behalf of them: a. Makes any warranty or representation, express or implied with respect to the accuracy, corrpleteness, or usefulness of the information contained in this report, or that the use of any information apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report may not infringe privately-owned rights, or b. Assumes any liability with respect to the use of, or for damages resulting from the use of, any information, apparatus, method or process disclosed in this report. ii ..flPk and Subtltlo March 1987 '. Author(,) I. P~domlyOrganlzatlon Name and Addross NEUSHUL MARICULTURE INCORPORATED 475 Kellogg Way 11. WfadN3 w t3tarM) Mo. Goleta, California 93117 (a 5083-226-0802-5 (op 12. Smnsorlng Organlnation Name d Addreas 1% Tym d lepotfi L Perlod Coverad FINAL REPORT GAS RESEZiRCH INSTITUTE 5/80 - 12/86 8600 West Bryn Mawr Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60631 I& AbaPraet (LimOP? 2CKB words9 The work accomplished with funeing from GRI from May , 1560 t hrouc,h L;tscenkjcr, 1986, is reviewed in this report. Two float-bearing macroalcjae, Macrocystis anu Sargassum, were do~esticatedand grown in the sea in tanks, ana axenic~llyin uish culture. The giant kelp, Macrocystis, has been successfully farmed cn a pilot scale in coastal waters under controlled conditions for the first time, snG its productivity is as grest as sugar cane. The gulf-weed Sargassun- --natans a rr:ajor component of the Sargasso Sea, has been grow? and maintained for three yexs, in Lisn and tank culture. This is the first time that long-term culture of this ~itnthas been possible. A seedstock collection consisting of over 80G vegetstively-~ropgatfc macroalgal isolates has been established and mainfaineci. liew methcda f.cr hpplyinc; mutagens and isolating mutant strains of the giant kelp have been succ~ssfully employes, and hybridization trials have shown that morphological variants are expressed in the sporophytic but not in the gametophytic life-history ~hase. &ew marine farm engineering principles have been developed and appiied. A cetailsa study of the effects of environmental conditions on famed macrophytes in the sea, has been completed. Finally, NMI has assembled a list or valuable neb co-~rccucts and by-products, that would be generated if macrcalgal fzirms were estabiished in coastal waters. Macroalgae, Mariculture, Seaweeds, Biomass, Macrocystis, Yield, Genetics, Sargassm b. Idedlnenl0p.n-Ended Terms Marine Algae, Marine Farms, Planting Technology, Marine Biomass Program c. C(BSAT( FleId/&oep 21. No. of Pameo 185 Release Unlimited 22. rdco iii RESEARCH SUMMARY Title: MARINE FARMING: MACROALGAL PRODUCTION AND GENETICS Contractor: NEUSHUL MARICULTURE INCORPORATED GRI Contract Number: 5083-226-0802-5 Principal Investigators: M. Neushul and B. W. W. Harger Period of Performance: May 1, 1980 to December 311 1986 Objectives: This final report discusses the work completed at all phases of the GRI contract including measuring the growth of individual kelp plants in the sear and the installation of an experimental coastal test farm. Subsq~ently~a seedstock collection was established, and rrrethods for manipulating algae genetically were developed and mutants were produced and tested. Research programs were established and maintained with scientists and marine biologists in Japanr China, Korea and the Philippines. Major Achievements: The domestication of two float-bearing macroalgae has been completed and a vegetatively-propagated seedstock collection of some 800 strains has been established. The giant kelp, Macrocysti~~has been farmed on a pilot scale in coastal waters for the first time, and engineering principles have been developed and applied (with co-funding from NSF). A six year study of the effects of oceanographic conditions on the growth of giant kelp in natural kelp beds has been finished. The gulf-weed, Sargassum, has been cultivated for over three years in the laboratory. New methods for applying mutagens to Macrocystis have been developed and tested and mutants have been isolated and cloned. Cloned mutant-stocks have been crossed and morphologically distinctive sporophytes have been produced for the first time. ACKNOWLEDGEWENTS We would like to acknowledge the generous contributions to this program by those who were the first to cultivate macroalgae in the sea. It has been nearly thirty years since Dr. Wheeler J. North authored the first Institute of Marine Resources Annual Report for the Kelp Investigation Programr to which the author of this report also contributed (July 1, 1957r IMR Reference 57-4). For three decades Dr. North has generously given advice, assistance, and encouragement to us. His scientific "courage" to tread first where others have not, serves as an example for all. We also owe a debt of thanks to Dr. H. A. Wilcox whose vision of open ocean kelp farms was matched by an unusual ability to transfer his enthusiasm to others. Similarly, Dr. A. Flowers of the Gas Research Institute recognized that the development of an entirely new, renewable source of energy was a major undertaking that required substantial levels of funding. For the first time, kelp research was well funded. He also recognized the need, after touring the vast Chinese and Japanese marine farms, to establish a scientific exchange program, which will most certainly continue long after the termination of this project. Dr. C. K. Tseng, of the Institute of Oceanology, Qingdao, China, is another pioneer who can justly claim to be among the very first to have farmed the sea. He has been very generous with his assistance to US, provided advice, encouragement and gave us an invaluable historical perspective on the problems involved with farming the sea. He also made it possible for his talented co-workers X. G. Fei, C. Y. Wu, the late T. C. Fang and N. N. Kiang to visit and work with us. We look forward to a visit in 1987 from the noted geneticist, Giajun Li, who has been studying kelp genetics for twenty years. The Japanese phycological community has also been helpful to our research projects. We would like to acknowledge the advice and assistance of Y. Sanbonsuga and H. Yabu, who taught us invaluable cultivation and cytological techniques. Scientists at Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries were also very generous in keeping us up-to-date with their recent progress, which is discussed in this report. Colleagues and co-workers at the University of California, Santa Barbara have been particularly contributoryr and their advice and assistance is greatly appreciated. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the financial and scientific guidance provided by our GRI program managers, including Drs. P. Benson, K. Bird, and J. Frank. Most recently we have been fortunat'e to have Dr. H. R. Isaacson as our Program Manager. He has adeptly and tactfully dealt with the problems of closing down this program, and shares our hope that one day the task of large-scale farming of macrophytes in the sea will be taken up again in the U. S. to the extent that it is now done in the Orient and Philippines. TABLE 0 F CONTENTS Sect ion Page Nuher Chapter I. 11. Background and History of the Marine Biomass Program ---- 4 111. - IV. Environmental Factors and Macroalgal Mariculture A. The Aquatic Environment ............................. 47 B. The Marine Environment and Natural Kelp Beds ------- 68 C. The Marine Environment and Farmed Kelp ------------- 83 Genetics and Algal Production A. Biomass Production by Marine Crops: Genetic Manipulation of Kelps ..................... 122 B. Marine Farm Engineering: Genetics and Algal Production ...................... 138 VI . VII . Appendices: A. List of Macroalgal Seedstock Cultures B, A History of Kelp Utilization in California C. List of Meetings Attended by NMI Staff & Visitors D. List of Publications v i LIST OF FIGURES Figure number: 1. History of kelp harvests in California 1916 to 1986 --------------- 2. Carbon dioxide fixation by macroalgae ............................. 3. Naval Underseas Center Farm, San Clemente Islana ------------------ 4. American Gas Association Brochure Illustration -------------------- 5. General Electric Farm Illustration -------------------------------- 6. Washington Post Cartoan ------------------------------------------- 7. Japanese Farm Designs ............................................. 8. Japanese Farm Operation ........................................... 9. Japanese Farm Products and By Products ---------------------------- 10. Coastal Farm, @let- California em--------------------------------- 11. Harvested Yield, for Average and High-Yield Plants ---------------- 12. Genetic Manipulation and Intergeneric Hybridization -------.-------- 13. California kelp beu areas, 1911-1979 ------------------------------ 14. Kelp Harvests 1973-77, Goleta Bay, California --,------------------- 15. Light, Nutrients and Kelp Harvests, Goleta my, California -------- 16. NMI 1980-86 Air Temperatur~~,daily