Sustainable macroalgae production at large scale

Patent · 14 June 2022

OSTI ID:1893020

Myers, Alyson; DiMarco, Steve; Moscicki, Zachary

Pelagic, surface floating, macroalga, Sargassum is harvested at large scale from a free-roaming farm floating freely on the ocean surface, monitored and tracked with GPS drifters and contained only by naturally occurring circular currents known as eddies or gyres, without aquaculture equipment. The farming technique occurs in open ocean through the utilization of system design and technology. Satellite imagery is interpreted to locate naturally occurring Sargassum aggregations or mats. Harvest vessel(s) travel to an identified mat, where only a portion of the natural mat is harvested as starter culture for a free-roaming farm. Cuttings are left behind to become new plants to restore the “mother mat” for no net loss of habitat and for migration for cohabitating organisms. The remainder of the biomass is transported to the identified free-roaming farm site which is in a suitable Eddie. GPS drifters are adhered with seedlings until the crop is ready for harvest.

• Research Organization: US Dept. of Energy (USDOE), Washington, DC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AR0000927
• Assignee: Myers, Alyson, Washington, DC (United States)
• Patent Number(s): 11,357,183
• Application Number: 16/248,587
• OSTI ID: 1893020
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English