Recommendations

Seaweeds are promising resources in terms of achieving the food and energy security in India, though the developments have been made in food industry but yet to achieve complete hydrolysis of seaweed carbohydrate. Introduction of seaweed based food items into world’s vegetable diets, augments our existing food supplies with greater nutritive value, and also provides an edge against possible crop failures. Seaweed harvest from wild stocks is sustainable practice only in certain parts of the world where natural biomass is considered to have been triggered due to nutrient pollution of natural marine systems, or if the species is a pest. Large scale harvesting in wild is regarded as undesirable as it causes significant environmental impacts for associated marine fauna. Therefore, in India cultivation of seaweeds to be practiced in large expanses of flood plains in estuaries and development of cost-effective methods to transport, and process macroalgae for various industrial applications is the most crucial. Locating suitable sites for seaweed cultivation, and employing fisher folks especially women, to take up seaweed farming during off-season while not meddling into their conventional fishing activities.