50 SEP TEMBER 2022 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WA S .ORG removal and job diversification for the working waterfront. Multiple initiatives, driven by academia, the federal government, private industry, and NGOs are exploring possible ways to compensate farmers for this ecosystem service (GreenWave 2022, BenDor et al. 2021, Stower 2021, Cross 2020, Kim et al. 2019, 2015, Stover 2018, MARINER 2019). To this end, we have developed and tested a Nutrient Extraction Toolkit (NET, Fig. 1) that consists of a relatively low-cost and durable sampling kit to allow farmers to collect tissue and water samples consistently and systematically for carbon and nitrogen determination. The toolkit has been tested and improved with the assistance of kelp farmers on the East and West coasts of the United States (Fig. 2). The development and improvement of the kit originated as an effort to bridge scientists, coastal communities and kelp farmers in such a way that the capacity to collect data increases with the simultaneous participation of multiple parties across large geographical areas. The engagement of kelp farmers in data collection Commercial kelp farming in the U.S. has proliferated in the past 12 years, starting with the first commercial farms in Maine in 2009-2010 (Kim et al. 2019, Bricknell et al. 2020, Piconi et al. 2020). Aside from offering a slate of opportunities to boost fisheries and create jobs, an increasing number of studies show that kelp farming represents an important conduit to enhance ecosystem services and an enhancement of product diversification. These include temporary CO2 removal from the atmosphere (Duarte et al. 2017, Kim et al. 2017, Kim et al. 2015), improving nutrient cycling and improving water quality through nutrient removal (e.g., nitrogen and phosphorus) from the water column (Park et al. 2018, 2021, Xiao et al. 2017). Eutrophication of coastal waters remains a concern for urbanized estuaries, particularly those directly influenced by nonpoint source pollution or urbanization (Tedesco et al. 2014). The overall kelp mariculture industry in the United States aims to build an environmentally sustainable future, with kelp farmers interested in determining how their farms contribute to improving water quality through carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen Building Community Capacity in the Determination of Nutrient Removal through Kelp Farming Schery Umanzor, Melissa Good, Tesia Bobrycki, Jang K. Kim and Charles Yarish FIGURE 1. Nutrient Extraction Toolkit (NET©) includes all devices and materials for tissue and water sampling to determine carbon and nitrogen content and removal by farmed seaweed (Photo: S. Umanzor). FIGURE 2. Sample collection and evaluation of NET© in (a) Kodiak and (b-c) Prince Williams Sound, Alaska (Photos: S. Umanzor in collaboration with Maribel Montiel (a), B. Camparan – The Native Conservancy (b), and S. Steritz – Noble Ocean Farms (c)). FIGURE 3. (a) GreenWave farmer Michelle Stephens collects (b) multiple blades of sugar kelp, Saccharina latissima, from Bradford, CT farm. Blades are sampled with a tissue cutter (c) to obtain sections of 5-cm in diameter that are prepared for shipping to processing laboratories (Photos: S. Umanzor, in collaboration with the GreenWave Organization).
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