The status of commercial algal utilization in New Zealand

In 1988, the New Zealand government instituted a moratorium on the issue of licenses to harvest wild stocks of marine macroalgae. In the intervening years, exports of algal products from New Zealand have declined while imports have increased. Exports of agar have decreased by 85%. For algal food products, exports have decreased while imports have increased by 500%. Collection of unattached rhodophytes requires no permit, and some special exemptions to the permit moratorium were made for abalone farmers, so seaweed continues to be harvested from wild stocks. In 1997, the two main rhodophyte genera harvested were Pterocladia and Gracilaria, with approximately 60 and 100 t dry weight harvested respectively. The two main phaeophyte genera harvested were Macrocystis and Durvillaea, with 51.8 and 34.5 t (wet weight) harvested respectively. Algal farming in New Zealand is still in its infancy; while there are 72 farms licensed to grow seaweed (owned by 29 different ent ities), only 12 of these are actively producing algae. Approximately 6 t (wet weight) was cultured in 1995, and the majority was used as feedstock for animals cultured at the same sites.