59 



I would assume that we in the United States could achieve at least 

 as much, in the future. Thank you. 



[The following was received for the record:] 



Statement of Michael Neushul, Professor of Marine Botany at the University 

 OF California, Santa Barbara, and President, Neushul Mariculture Inc., 

 Goleta, Calif. 



Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, it is a privilege to be here to 

 present my views as to the feasibility of oceanic macro-algal farms, their potential 

 yields, and the future potential of such farms for the production of food and energy 

 in an environmentally acceptable manner. As a member of the Bioenergy Advisory 

 Panel of the Office of Technology Assessment, I can also comment on how oceanic 

 biomass production might fit into an overall scheme for meeting present and future 

 U.S. energy needs. 



Since 1963, I have worked at the University of California at Santa Barbara, on 

 various aspects of macro-algal biology, with research support from the Biological 

 Oceanography Program of the National Science Foundation and the Sea Grant 

 Program. The NSF small-business research program has recently made it possible 

 for me to install a near-shore macro-algal farm, designed to produce plants that 

 yield industrial and pharmaceutical chemicals (agar, algin, carageenan). This ap- 

 plied research is sponsored by the Applied Science and Research Applications divi- 

 sion of the National Science Foundation. 



In considering the potential of marine macro-algal farms, for the production of 

 chemicals, food and energy, I feel that it is very important to first consider what is 

 now happening in Japan and China, where large marine farms now exist. Since the 

 giant, float-bearing kelps do not occur and have not yet been introduced into 

 Chinese or Japanese waters, it is important to review U.S. harvests from the as-yet 

 uncultivated kelp beds of California. 



As of 1970, there were some 130,000 acres of sea surface under cultivation in 

 Japan. In 1976 there were some 25,000 acres being cultivated along the coast of 

 mainland China and plans were being made to double this. Additional sea surface is 

 farmed in Korea and the Philippines. These farms are all designed to produce 

 macro-algae that are eaten directly as a food, or that provide a source of chemicals 

 used as emulsifying and gelling agents. 



Japanese (J) and Chinese (C) advances in macro-algal mariculture 



Japan (solid line) 

 Porphyra 

 XqH sheets 

 produced 



(dotted line) China 



Laminaria 



1920 



1930 



19'»0 



1950 



i960 



1970 



Year 



A graphic summary of the historical development and farm yields in China and 

 Japan, illustrates the rapid progress made in the last few decades. In China, the 

 kelp, Lammaria japonica, was introduced from Japan in 1927. (C 1). In 1952 the 



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