WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2017 35 From January 2016 to January 2017, Brazil imported 1.3 t of fresh, refrigerated, frozen or powdered edible algae (including seaweeds and microalgae) spending approximately US$ 9 million. If carrageenan, a hydrocolloid extracted from red seaweeds used in several industries as a thickening and gelling agent, is considered, imports are greater: in the same period, Brazil imported 2 t, paying US$ 15.7 million dollars. The country imports agar and alginate, two other hydrocolloids extracted from seaweeds. In the same period, 107 t of agar and 927 t of alginate were imported at a cost of US$ 1.8 million and US$ 13.5 million, respectively (MDIC 2016). Brazil is highly dependent on imports of seaweeds and their processed products. Even so, seaweeds farms are not well established or successful. Small production by artisanal farms in the northeast is limited to artisanal products such as cosmetics and decorative objects sold to tourists. The activity plays a social rather than economic role. Producers depend on natural beds to extract seedlings for cultivation, limiting production. In the past ten years, these seedlings have become more scarce, leading some producers to stop cultivation (Rebours et al. 2014). The big challenge to implement commercial farms is the transition from artisanal to commercial scale. The lack of seaweed biomass and the low sales price of dry product limits expansion. On the other hand, in southeast and southern Brazil, Kappaphycus cultivation can be successful. The main problem continues to be the bureaucracy concerning cultivation of an exotic species. Only Santa Catarina has promising production potential. Considering all legal aquaculture parks delimited by the state government (969 ha), the estimated productivity of this species is 24 t/ha per yr, with a production of 23,453 t/yr, yielding about US$ 40 million/yr, considering the market price of US$ 1.50/kg dry seaweed (Santos 2014). Finally, after four years of negotiation, a license for expanding experimental areas was issued and the forecast is to start up commercial cultivation in Santa Catarina state in the next three or four years. In Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states, where commercial cultivation is allowed, the main challenge is developing the technical capacity of producers and investment in the activity. Implementation of a new activity in these states is quite difficult. Unlike Santa Catarina state, producers in these states do not an aquaculture tradition and they suffer the lack of experts working and training these producers. Despite the problems previously identified, commercial seaweed cultivation can be viable in Brazil. These problems are not too complicated to solve. The activity can bring new job opportunities and diversification of aquaculture activities to communities that already depend on sea farming. Brazil has one of the biggest coastlines of the world. It is time to put eyes on this potential and concentrate efforts and resources to develop aquaculture. Marine Microalgae Production Marine microalgae production in Brazil stands out as part of the production chain of shrimp, molluscs and some fishes, mainly as a live food in hatcheries in the south and northeast (Derner 2016). In the last eight years, the biotechnological potential of microalgae has emerged and many research projects have been funded by the Brazilian government for microalgae-based biofuel (Collares 2016) and for broader objectives that include CO2 emission mitigation, wastewater treatment, animal nutrition and high-value molecules in a microalgae biorefinery context (Jacob-Lopes and Franco 2013, Miranda et al. 2015, Brasil et al. in press). Despite the recent increased interest in this field, there are few reported initiatives from private companies. In the northeast (closer to the Equator), raceway pond systems have been used by the Brazilian oil company (Petrobras) in a pilot scale microalgae production facility. Since 2012, the facility has focused on microalgae biomass production for biodiesel production using production water as culture media (Brasil et al. in press). Also, the Instituto Fazenda Tamandua has been producing Spirulina for the last 13 years in raceway ponds for human consumption (Chies and Costa 2016). In the southeast, Terravia (formerly Solazyme) started a joint-venture with Bunge in 2014 to produce microalgae-oil heterotrophically for use in the cosmetics industry (DOE 2016). Algae Biotecnologia has produced, since 2015, microalgae in closed photobioreactors for CO2 emission mitigation from cement industry flue gas (Collares 2016). Most of these enterprises use fresh or brackish-water microalgae. There is no commercial marine microalgae production reported besides the ones found at marine hatcheries. This scenario leads to a lack of improvement in marine microalgae cultivation techniques and a dependency on imports of marine microalgae concentrates for cobia and marine ornamental hatcheries (Derner 2016). LEFT and RIGHT: Land-based farm for marine fish in northeast Brazil. Photo: Pål Myhre. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 36)
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