Cecilia Biancacci1, Wouter Visch2, Damien L. Callahan3, David S. Francis4, Vanessa M. Skrzypczyk1, Erin E. Cumming4, Glenn Farrington2, Phil Lamb5, Craig J. Sanderson6, Bradley Evans6, Alecia Bellgrove1, Catriona L. Hurd2, Catriona Macleod2
1 Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Warrnambool Campus, Princes Hwy, Victoria 3280, Australia
2 Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, 20 Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tasmania, 7004 Australia
3 Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Melbourne Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Hwy, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia
4 Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Queenscliff Marine Science Centre, 2A Bellarine Hwy, Queenscliff, Victoria, 3225, Australia
5 Spring Bay Seafoods Pty. Ltd., 488 Freestone Point Rd, Triabunna TAS 7190, Australia
6 Tassal Group Pty. Ltd., 1 Franklin Wharf, Hobart Tasmania 7000, Australia
Global demand for seaweed is increasing alongside the interest in sustainable aquaculture, stimulating industry investment in the production of seaweeds, particularly through integrated multitrophic aquaculture systems (IMTA). To meet future food demands, seaweed aquaculture must expand beyond Asia, into other regions with high production potential and where novel native and/or endemic seaweeds can lead to a diversification of the seaweed farming sector. High diversity of endemic seaweeds and relatively clean coastal waters suggests Australia could be a key player in seaweed production for high quality food/feed and pharma/nutraceutical applications, but optimization of culture conditions and nutritional profiling of Australian species is still in its infancy. The Seaweed Solutions for Sustainable Aquaculture project (www.seaweedsolutions-crc.com/) is attempting to address these knowledge gaps for Australian laminarian kelps cultivated alongside salmonid and mussel farms in Tasmanian coastal waters. As part of the research conducted within the project, this study investigated the nutritional profile of wild harvested and cultivated Australian kelps (Macrocystis pyrifera, Ecklonia radiata and Lessonia corrugata) focusing on proximate composition, fatty acids, minerals and metals, elemental analyses, pigments, and antioxidants. The results will be discussed considering the overall composition as well as the factors that contributed to variability within, and the implications for the potential commercialization of these species, including in co-culture/IMTA systems.