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Underwater Gelidium harvest off southwest Portugal - 1999
©João Mariano
Back to basicsGlobal shortage of bacteriological
and technical agars
Ricardo Melo + Rui Santos
Melo + Santos 3
Nature 528: 171–172(December 10th, 2015)
“Microbiology’s most important reagent is in
short supply, with potential consequences for research,
public health and clinical labs around the world.”
“already pushed wholesale prices of agar to an all-time
high of around US$35–45 per kilogram — nearly triple
the price before scarcities began.”
by Ewen Callaway21/06/16
doi: 10.1038/528171a
Melo + Santos 4
• Gelidium• Pterocladia/
Pterocladiella• Gelidiella• Gracilaria
Geography of commercial agarophytes
21/06/16
Melo + Santos 5
Our ‘we told you so’ moment!• ISS XIX – 2007, Japan – Global Gelidium resource
21/06/16
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
20000
1980s 1990s 2000s
Decades
Land
ings
(t d
w)
South AfricaChileMexicoIndonesiaPortugalJapanSouth KoreaMoroccoSpain
Melo + Santos 6
ISS XIX – 2007, Japan (cont.)
• Global Gelidium production in 3 preceding decades• ≈ 16 000 t (dw)
• Stable in South Africa, Chile, Mexico, South Korea
• Collapsed in Indonesia, Portugal, Japan, Spain
• But, how sustainable this level of production?• Maintained by Morocco’s very increased landings
• Representing 73% of world landings
21/06/16
Melo + Santos 7
Our present objective is to:
• Compile available disseminated information• More and better data communication
• Identify bottlenecks and sustainability problems• Boost renewed attention to Gelidium resources
• Historical producer countries & others
• Disseminate a low cost stock assessment method• Based on harvest effort statistics
• Effective use of harvest logbooks
• Coaching of harvesters for sustainability
21/06/16
Melo + Santos 8
Mean decadal landings (t ww)
21/06/16
Melo + Santos 9
Global Gelidium resource
21/06/16
• Has been in decline since 1960’s peak
• Dramatic drop in the 2010’s
• Production less than 50% of peak value
• Business as usual?
2010’s mean harvest ≈
pre-WW II situation *
* 1940
Not
Melo + Santos 10
Other take-home ideas
• Steady increase of Morocco’s global share• From ≈20% in the 60’s up to ≈70% in the new century
• Global market virtually depends on sole supplier
• Fluctuations should have DISPROPORTIONATE effect
21/06/16
Melo + Santos 11
Case study: Morocco (1)
21/06/16
Melo + Santos 12
Case study: Morocco (2)
21/06/16
Melo + Santos 13
Morocco: updated management
• Gelidium harvest• Interdiction: October 1st – June 30th
• Only beach cast harvest, no plucking, no night harvest• In 2010 limit was 5440 t in 2010, 6040 t in 2014
• Traceability system for Gelidium and agar commerce• Export licence regime for Gelidium and agar
• Restrictive export quotas enforced• Only 20% of Gelidium production• 80% must be processed in-country (Setexam, Kénitra)
21/06/16
Melo + Santos 14
Santos, Cristo & Jesus 2003
• Describe stock assessment of Gelidium resource based on harvest effort information
• Low cost compared with common standing stock evaluations involving scientific diving
• Analysis of harvest effort data is highly informative• But:
• Information on sea conditions for each harvest day must be included to improve logbook data
21/06/16
Melo + Santos 15
Gelidium corneum harvest in Portugal: yearly variation of harvest yield, total harvest effort, and seasonal CPUE (Santos et al. 2003)
21/06/16
Melo + Santos 16
Training and coaching is a must
• Harvesters need to understand:• How logbook data will be used• The importance of providing accurate records
• Managers and scientists have to:• Better communicate with harvesters• Illustrate how the information obtained from harvest
effort data is to be used
21/06/16
Melo + Santos 17
Gelidium corneum harvest in Portugal: yearly variation of standing stock, harvest yield, exploitation rate, and catchability (Santos et al. 2003)
21/06/16
Melo + Santos 18
Data harvesting…
• A difficult task finding statistical data on agarophyte harvest!
• Also complicated assessing the quality of those data!
• On-line fisheries data from governmental and research institutions, trade associations, international experts
• Many individual researchers and friends were of great help
Previous reports by Santelices (1988), Santos and Duarte (1991), Melo et al. (1991), Melo (1998, 2002), McHugh (2003), and Santos et al. (2003) review harvest methods, fisheries statistics, cultivation attempts, and stock assessment of Gelidium species
21/06/16
Thank you!
João Mariano – Photography
www.joaomariano.com
Antonieta Pedroso – Illustration
G. corneum (=sesquipedale): commercial species in NE Atlantic