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Seaweed has been used for centuries, although it remains largely unknown to part of the population.
Its potential is immense.
They are eaten and biostimulants, bioplastics, cosmetics and medicines are obtained from them.
They do not need land, irrigation or fertilizers, they grow quickly, improve water quality, sustain marine biodiversity, absorb CO2 and do not generate toxic waste.
Kappaphycus alvarezii is a red algae (Rhodophyta).
But that classification has nothing to do with its color.
It can be red, green or yellowish.
It arrived from Asia to America in 1994. “The biologist Raul Rincones brought it to Venezuela.
It is a macroalgae native to the coral reefs of the Philippines, Malaysia and the Seychelles Islands,” explains Miguel Sepúlveda, the biologist who introduced it to Brazil and Ecuador, in a phone call from Chile.
“She has been domesticated since the sixties, when the American Maxwell Doty found her along with the Filipino Marcos Alvarez.
The first commercial crops began in the Philippines, and later in Indonesia, Malaysia and the region.
In the seventies it came to Africa, to Zanzibar,” says Sepúlveda.
In 1998, he himself brought 20 kilos of a strain from Venezuela to Brazil.
The Brazilian cultivation of Kappaphycus began on Ilha Grande, on the southern coast of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
First it was for research.
They got permission to bring it safely and it was quarantined, because it is an exotic algae.
It began to be cultivated commercially in 2008, after carrying out impact studies to evaluate its invasive potential.
It has recently been authorized in the states of São Paulo and Santa Caterina, on the southeast coast of Brazil, and work is underway to extend it to the northeast region.
The tons of algae produced in crops are clones that replicate over and over again.
The ease of cultivation is one of the advantages.
“In 2020 we placed three PVC pipes and planted five kilos of Kappaphycus.
Today we have 30 tons.
They can reach growth rates of 8% per day, which is a lot.
More than any terrestrial culture, and without fertilizers, irrigation or poison,” explains Juliano Kump Mathion in one of the algae farms surrounded by mountains of the Costa Verde, in front of Ilha Grande.
He is president of the Association of Seafarmers of São Paulo (AMESP) and a zootechnician, specialist in cultivating animals, mainly marine, such as scallops, mussels or fish.
But in 2003, he set his sights on algae and in 2020 he founded the company Algas Tech with his partner, the biologist Mozart Marins.
It took them about three years to get the license.
The largest cultivators of 'Kappaphycus' in Latin America are Venezuela and Brazil, countries with warm waters.Paula López Barba
In Brazil, there are four bodies responsible for authorizing seaweed cultivation: Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, Brazilian Navy, City Hall, and Secretaria do Patrimony of the Union, the government body that owns public areas.
“It's very bureaucratic, but when you get the permit, they give you the area for 20 years,” says Kump on the floating platform next to a hectare of plantation.
"Here we now collect 30 tons every two months, about 180 tons per year, and we have a license to expand to four times that."
Every few minutes, a turtle pops its head out near the crop pond and, in a few seconds, submerges again.
Seaweed plantations attract them, like other marine species.
“It helps in the recomposition of the local fauna.
Lobsters, seahorses and shrimp come.
It's a hatchery.
As it has the protective net to prevent the algae from falling off, predators do not enter.
The environmental gain of having an algae crop is enormous,” says Kump, and lists other advantages, such as the capture of CO2 that contributes to reducing the greenhouse effect, the production of oxygen that improves water quality, and bioremediation.
“They reduce the load of nutrients that humans dump into the sea and are capable of removing inorganic waste such as nitrites and phosphates, widely used in agriculture and that cause ocean acidification,” he explains.
His main clients are from agribusiness.
They use the algae as a biostimulant for soybean or sugarcane crops, so abundant in Brazil and Paraguay.
'Kappaphycus alvarezii' is a red algae (Rhodophyta), which has nothing to do with its color, it can be red, green or yellowish.Paula López Barba
Biostimulant for agriculture
In 1998, the use of the algae Kappaphycus alvarezii as a biostimulant was discovered in India.
The main product extracted from seaweed in Latin America is carrageenan, a thickener widely used in the industry.
It is the additive E 407, present in foods and everyday products, such as toothpaste, shampoo, ice cream, sausages, or meat.
But carrageenan is not enough to sustain the intensive cultivation of Kappaphycus in the region.
“It is an international
commodity
and, in the good season in Asia, the price plummets.
Importing is cheap because it is sold dry, but its use as a biostimulant has changed the market because being liquid makes transportation more expensive.
It is better to produce the biostimulant close to the crops,” says Domingos Sávio, a biologist specialized in algae crops and a technician at the Fisheries Secretariat of the City Council of Paraty, in the State of Rio de Janeiro.
The process to obtain biostimulant is easy, mechanical.
It's like making juice, and 70% of the algae is used.
The remaining 30% can be given other uses.
Sávio emphasizes that what is achieved is a biostimulant, not a biofertilizer.
“The seaweed does not replace macronutrients, but less is needed.
The plant is stronger because it offers hormones that encourage it to develop more flowers, leaves and roots, which is why it absorbs more water and makes better use of nutrients, so less irrigation, fertilizers and pesticides are needed."
In large Latin American agricultural production, chemical products are used, which contaminate the soil and water.
The international market increasingly demands that certain pesticides be avoided or that it be produced organically.
Algae may be part of the solution.
Juliano Mathion has a degree in zootechnics and president of the Association of Marigold Farmers of the State of Sao PauloPaula López Barba
For this and other uses, global seaweed production is booming.
It has gone from half a million tons in 1950 to 36 million tons in 2020, and tripled its volume between 1995 and 2020. Asia leads that market, with an overwhelming 97.4% compared to Europe's 1.4%, 0.8 % from America, 0.3% from Africa and 0.03% from Oceania, according to data from the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations).
The largest cultivators of Kappaphycus in Latin America are Venezuela and Brazil, which with their almost 7,500 kilometers of coastline, has a lot of potential.
They are followed by Ecuador, Belize and Panama.
It could also be grown in other countries such as Colombia, Suriname or the Guianas.
It has been tried in Mexico, but, according to Sepúlveda, the Government did not support it.
And although Chile is one of the largest producers of algae, it is not of Kappaphycus, which needs warm waters.
There they focus on other species, such as those of the Gracilaria genus from which agar agar is extracted, which is also used as a thickener in the food industry.
The crops attract fauna that takes refuge or feeds in them.Paula López Barba
Blue economy to stimulate the local economy
In Brazil, few Kappaphycus crops still have a complete environmental license.
“In Paraty there are 10 crops and 45 in the approval process,” explains Junio Alvarenga, director of Fisheries of Paraty.
The coastal municipality has been committed to the blue economy for decades, but now it is undergoing a transformation.
“With the growing scarcity of fish, we began to establish agreements with universities in Rio de Janeiro such as the UERJ, with Professor Marcos Bastos, and the UFRJ, with Professor Ana Lúcia Vendramine, to promote the cultivation of algae.
We offer training to educate our inhabitants and attract companies that purchase algae byproducts.
Now we have invested 500,000 reais (93,000 euros) in purchasing equipment.
It is an expensive activity, each structure costs around 10,000 reais (1,850 euros).
They are tubes, cables, network and installation.
How are we going to convince a fisherman to invest that money?
It is unfeasible,” he explains.
“Seaweed is our flagship,” says Saulo de Oliveira Vidal, the Fisheries Secretary of the Paraty City Council, who is next to him.
“We are planning to develop a benefits industry in the State of Rio de Janeiro so that producers do not only sell the raw material, but also have higher remuneration from the sale of the extract,” he adds.
For decades, the local inhabitants of the Costa Verde have lived mainly from tourism and fishing.
“Anything that is a source of money and that does not spoil the area, seems good to me,” says Renato, known as “Langostinha”, on one of the buses that circulate around Paraty.
He is a caiçara gentleman, born by the sea.
And that's what he dedicates himself to, giving boat rides to tourists.
He is concerned about something that is said in the area: “It seems that algae crops are dangerous for turtles because they can get tangled in the nets and die.”
Specialists and local authorities assure that the problem is being solved with the replacement of nets and greater control, and maintain that algae farms are more beneficial than harmful.
The collection of seaweed is done manually by local inhabitants.Paula López Barba
The potential impact of Kappaphycus cultivation on the region's economy is great.
There are several investigations into obtaining byproducts of all kinds from algae: bioplastics, cosmetics and unusual materials, such as the prototype to develop Phycolabs fabric, which won the Global Change Award in 2023 to reduce the impact of the textile industry.
There are also small organizations that stimulate the local economy, such as
Algas na mesa
on São Gonzalo de Paraty beach, a culinary project with seaweed developed by Aparecida Rosa Ayres, a native of the area.
“We hope to obtain a license to expand our cultivation and create a community of women who work with Kappaphycus,” she says, while rowing near the small cultivation in front of the beach kiosk, where they offer meals with seaweed, although for now, only by order. .
The possibilities of using algae have yet to be explored and its cultivation can be a good strategy to fight the environmental crisis.
Its byproducts can be used in such polluting industries as food, textile and construction.
The Latin American panorama, with so much coastline and so many agricultural crops, is very stimulating.