Seaweed Production Sluggish in Hokkaido
Global warming damages not only the earth's climate but also the livelihood of seaweed. Japan's northernmost island Hokkaido is by large Japan's major seaweed production site. Hokkaido shares 90% of seaweed production worth 20-25 billion yen a year, but data show that in terms of output the overall total has nearly halved in the last two decades.
The alarming situation prompted both Hokkaido prefectural authorities and private quarters to activate research for boosting seaweed cultivation in Hokkaido.
Kyowa Concrete Kogyo in Sapporo is spearheading an ambitious project to use light-emitting diode or LED to culture seaweed seedling to eventually boost production to make semiannual crop of seaweed possible.
Algatech Kyowa Seaweed Laboratory is collaborating with Hokkaido University's Faculty of Fisheries and a fish-luring light manufacturer Towa Denki to launch a study starting in March to irradiate LED to grow seaweed spore to seedling of size 2-3 mm.
Researchers show a certain wavelength of LED accelerates growth speed by 20-30% and predicts a further study should step up speed still twice as much. Spores normally take two months to grow into seedlings. If irradiated by LED, seedlings could be produced twice within the same period.
The project costs 66 million yen and the state covers two-thirds of the cost on condition that the fishing industries in Northeast Japan will benefit from the project's findings. Experiments are slated in the next wintertime season using LED-raised seedlings.
Meanwhile, Hokkaido Central Fisheries Experimental Station shortly starts directly spraying fertilizers along the coast of Uenohara. A guideline will be made out within two years based on the amount and cost of fertilizers sprayed, areas applied, effects of tides, etc.
Another factor affecting the sluggish seaweed output in Hokkaido is the aging of seaweed farmers - aged farmers working more in shallow grounds and less in deeper grounds.
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFC1400S_U2A310C1L41000/