A bioeconomic analysis of the potential of seaweed Hypnea pseudomusciformis farming to different targeted markets

Abstract

Simulations were performed to evaluate the economic potential of farming the seaweed Hypnea pseudomusciformis in two production scales for the carrageenan, human food, and glycolic extract markets in Brazil. The initial investment was low in all scenarios (US$25,579 in 7.5 ha and US$71,202 in 22.5 ha farms). Labor and taxes were the major production costs for production commercialized for the carrageenan and human food markets, respectively. Liquid glycerin and bottles were the main costs when the productions were marketed for glycolic extract. The carrageenan market showed no economic feasibility. On the other hand, the human consumption market was shown as very profitable, resilient, and highly attractive (IRR was ∼100%). Marketing the glycolic extract is also feasible and attractive (IRR was ∼25%) but had lower economic indicators and low resilience when compared to the human food market scenario. Upscaling the production optimized investments and reduced production costs, improving profitability. The plasticity of seaweed enables entrepreneurs to explore different markets simultaneously to increase farm resilience.

Keywords:

• Macroalgae
• carrageenan
• functional food
• nutraceuticals
• cosmetics

Ethical approval

This article was authorized by the ethics committee for research involving traditional knowledge (CAAE: 91801118.0.0000.5466). This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Acknowledgments

This study was carried out in association with the Sustainable Aquaculture Research Group created by the Brazilian Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture 2009 together with researchers of the Sustainable Aquaculture Research Network, established in 2010.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no financial interest or benefit that has arisen from the direct applications of the research described in this article. The views expressed in this document are those of the authors only and are not endorsed by any government body or organization.

Notes

1 Access to capital has been shown to be a major impediment for aquaculture (Mitra et al., 2019).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture of Brazil through the agencies of Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [562820/2010-8, 406069/2012-3, and 306361/2014-0] and Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos [01.10.0578.00/10]. The São Paulo Research Foundation– Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo [10/52212-3] also funded this work in part. The authors also thank the financial support provided by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) (Edital CAPES/Embrapa n° 15/2014 proposal 14 – process n° 88882.156918/2017-01).