Galicia and Andalusia seek to manage and enhance macroalgae in aquaculture areas
The canning industry organization Anfaco-Cecopesca and the Andalusian Aquaculture Technology Centre (Ctaqua) will work on a project focused on the management and valorization of macroalgae that grow without control in areas where aquaculture is developed.
Macroalgae growth in areas where aquaculture is developed can affect the daily activities of this sector, since the management of their removal as waste can entail additional economic costs. This is the case of the estuaries of Andalusia, where the algae mainly affect fish farming, and that of the Rias Baixas de Galicia, where they damage mollusk farming.
To face this challenge, Andalusia and Galicia have launched an initiative that will seek to quantify, identify and characterize the algae that grow in aquaculture areas and that should be removed from the environment. In addition, they will evaluate how this waste is currently managed, and then propose and demonstrate alternative management processes that allow it to take advantage of its potential in the most efficient way.
