Studies of biomass yield from a near-shore macroalgal test farm

This paper reports the results of studies in 1981 and 1982 of marine biomass yield from a near-shore, 0.48 hectare test farm at Ellwood, California. The experimental planting was made to ascertain whether or not the plants would maintain a high yield after repeated cutting, and to see what effect planting density has on yield. The test farm was planted with 722 plants and operated in all seasons of the year. Quarterly harvests were made from plants planted at densities of one plant per m/sup 2/, one plant per 4 m/sup 2/ and one plant per 16 m/sup 2/. Eleven metric tons of biomass were planted initially on a sandy sea floor. This produced a total of 50 wet metric tons of harvested biomass in 12 months.