Nursery Culture

Introduction

Seaweeds may have complex reproductive cycles and can be delicate during their early life stages. Growing seaweeds in nurseries during their reproductive and early life stages is an important step for many cultivated species in order to ensure maximum success during farm grow-out. Nurseries provide cultivated seaweeds with a protected and controlled environment during spore release, spore settlement, and early sporophyte growth. After they reach a certain size in a nursery, young seaweeds are ready to be moved to open water for farm grow out. Many seaweed farmers purchase seaweed ‘seed’ from nurseries rather than building a nursery to spawn seaweed themselves. 

In this unit, we introduce the reproductive cycles of seaweed (specifically sugar kelp) and elaborate on the need for nursery culture. Then we provide an overview of nursery culture for sugar kelp and discuss seed procurement in Maine. As for any aquaculture species, a reliable source of seed and an understanding of your crops’ reproductive cycle is useful for any seaweed aquaculture farm.

                                     Image credit: Seagrove Kelp Co