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Presentation Title: Safeguarding the carrageenophyte cultivation industry: A case study in Malaysia Professor Dr. Lim Phaik Eem is the Deputy Director of the Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya. She is one of the founding members and the current secretary of the Consortium of Southeast Asian Seaweed Taxonomy (SEASTax). She has published more than 150 publications. Her main research focus has been on algae since the 1990s. With the challenges facing the carrageenan industries, especially lack of genetic diversity of cultivars of the eucheumatoids, she has initiated the study in Malaysia as well as in the Southeast Asian regions the past 10 years and the research scope is expanded with her involvement in GCRF GlobalSeaweedSTAR programme, where a problem-based multidisciplinary approach was adopted to address several main issues affecting the seaweed cultivation and processing industries. These include detection of diseases and pests associated with the seaweed farming, farm management and legislation (biosecurity), conservation and exploration of genetically diverse seed stocks, and socio-economic resilience of the industry. |
Presentation title: Safeguarding the carrageenophyte cultivation industry: A case study in Malaysia
Kappaphycus and Eucheuma account for almost 90% of the world’s carrageenan production and the industry is projected to reach US$ 1 billion in value by 2024. The carrageenophyte cultivation industry is one of the key economic sectors in Malaysia, and the third largest producer of carrageenophytes after Indonesia and the Philippines. The demand for carrageenan is expected to increase with time but in recent years, production has declined, signaling an urgent need for a concerted effort to provide solutions to safeguard this industry. To date, our localised genetic profiling, in synergy with the efforts of the GlobalSeaweedSTAR consortium, indicate that virtually all the cultivated strains of Kappaphycus alvarezii and K. striatus in the world belong to very few haplotypes. This affects the overall productivity over time, given that genetic diversity is vital for maintaining resilience of the seaweeds and the ecosystems in which they occur. Limited genetic variation in the farmed seaweeds may increase disease outbreaks, in particular ice-ice and epiphyte infestation, which, coupled with climate change, increases the vulnerability of the industry. To work towards practical solutions, efforts include documenting genetic diversity of indigenous wild populations, developing genetically diverse strains as potentially new cultivars that are resilient to climate change, particularly temperature increase, and pests and diseases, and implementing a conservation strategy through long-term capacity building. Omics analyses are underway to determine potential causes of ice-ice disease, along with genetic profiling of the associated epiphytes. This research will help safeguard the Malaysian carrageenophyte industry and has potential application elsewhere.