Welcome to the second newsletter for Sea-

weeds Australia. The release of the first news-

letter saw a flurry of activity and interest both

nationally and internationally with similar net-

works and commercial interests. This has deliv-

ered a strong network base for Seaweeds Aus-

tralia to move forward with. It is evident that the

value and need of the newsletter has been

placed as a bridge between science and the

―real world‖; a gap that continues to widen. One

Tasmanian network member who joined follow-

ing the release of the newsletter summarised

this well using a quote from a retiring Director

of the Scottish Agricultural College; "starving

people don't read "Nature". And nor, I think, do

most potential beneficiaries of research.

This second issue of the Seaweeds Australia

newsletter follows the recent International Soci-

ety for Applied Phycology Congress (ISAP

2011) that was held in Halifax, Canada. This

newsletter will outline some of the highlights

from that event, although a report will be forth-

coming through the Rural Industries Research

& Development project report website. One

great piece of news following the Congress is

the win of Australia’s bid to host the next ISAP

2014 in Sydney. This bid was initiated through

Seaweeds Australia, sponsored by RIRDC, and

was also backed by Dr. Susan Blackburn at the

CSIRO and Prof. Michael Borowitzka of Mur-

doch University; both representatives of the

Australian microalgal networks.

As a warm up to ISAP 2014 in Sydney, Austra-

lia is also hosting the 8th Asia-Pacific Confer-

ence on Algal Biotechnology in Adelaide in

2012, ―Algae for the Future‖. Further details are

provided in this newsletter and indicates that

the opportunity for Australian seaweed R&D

output and industries to make their mark on the

international stage is nigh. Seaweeds Australia

stakeholders will have a role in contributing to

both conferences and we hope to profile some

of the initiatives underway in Australia in the

lead up to these events.

In this issue we are highlighting some of the re-

search planned from recent and substantial in-

vestment by the South Australian Government

which seeks to establish South Australia as a

national leader in seaweed cultivation.

In the biotechnology section, a bit of a novel

story brings together the fields and potential col-

laborative opportunities between applied sea-

weed chemical research and high-value hydrogel

applications including groundbreaking bionics

research.

Following on from the story in the last newsletter,

which highlighted the need for seaweed food

standards, we bring to account some of the me-

dia scares linked to seaweed in food products.

This deserves some attention to address issues

that are clearly based on misinformation about

seaweed species, a lack of commonly accepted

standards for use and/or irresponsible use by

manufacturers.

Agricultural applications of seaweed in Australia

and current trends by the manufacturers of Aus-

tralian products are also highlighted and, finally,

the theme for natural resource management fea-

tures some Australian evidence for climate

change effects on macroalgae.

It is also time for the original research steering

group to meet again and update the research

and development plans and priorities for Sea-

weeds Australia. December 9.

After returning from ISAP 2014 in Canada, it is

inspiring to see increasing demand for seaweed

products across the globe. The scale and diver-

sity of the applications for seaweed imply that

there will continue to be growth in demand for

seaweed products, and Australia needs to stay

aware of the opportunities and collaborations

that can be established to take advantage of

these opportunities; many of which are multi-

disciplinary.

Pia Winberg

(Executive Officer Seaweeds Australia)

Seaweeds Australia Newsletter Issue 1:2

November 2011

Seaweed Seaweed SpeciesSpecies Profile Profile

Myriogloea Myriogloea

This thick, gelatinous spa-

ghetti like genus belongs

to the Chordariacean

family and seems to pre-

viously have been re-

corded in NSW and

southern Australia as

Cladosiphon filum. There

are therefore records

around southern Austra-

lia that may be incorrect.

If anyone has knowledge

or samples of either of

these taxa then that

would help solve a con-

fusing case of misidentifi-

cation. The polysaccha-

rides in this taxon are po-

tentially good bioactive

candidates.

Seaweeds Australia Editorial P.1

Theme: Cultivation P.2

Theme: Biotechnology P.2

Theme: Food & Nutrition P.3

Theme: Aquaculture & Agricultural P.3

Theme: Natural Resource Management P.4

Australian Events 2011 P.4

ISAP 2011 and ISAP 2014 P.5

S. Australia communication strategy P.5

Events 2011 and Network Notice Board P.6

Page 2

There is nothing new about the rheologi-

cal or gelling properties of seaweeds. In-

deed global industries have been estab-

lished on the gelling properties of sea-

weeds which are used to create texture

and maintain form in many food and cos-

metic products. In addition seaweed gels

are used industrially as they provide a

broad range of fluid and viscosity charac-

teristics and are important in fluid prod-

ucts such as paints, fire retardants and ink

jet printers. Technically, seaweed gels

have different degrees of shear and

strength properties and this depends on

the seaweed species source in question

as well as the processing of the gels.

What is evident however, is a disciplinary

or sectoral gap between seaweed knowl-

edge (taxonomy and lifehistory) and the

physical chemistry field of research. Sea-

weed gels from the commodity markets,

such as carrageen, alginate and agar,

have been processed and marketed on

food and industry shelves for a long time

now. This is purchased by researchers

and industry in the fields of physical

chemistry who go straight to their labs and

work on novel applications for gels.

What is not appreciated here is the

source of the gel—the seaweed.

This link in understanding is important as

these seaweed gels differ markedly

across the life stages of the seaweed and

especially across different species of sea-

weed. Very few seaweed species have

been investigated for their unique

rheological properties; consequently

many potentially important gelling proper-

ties are being missed. One could query as

to why there is interest in further gel types

when the food and other industrial sectors

already have suitable gels, however there

are very high technological applications

that are emerging for these gels and small

differences in the strength or flexibility of

the gels at different temperatures and pH

levels has huge consequences.

At the recent International Workshop on

Rheological and Mechanical Properties of

Hydrogels, hosted at the University of

Wollongong by ARC Centre of Excellence

for Electromaterials Science researchers

Profs Geoff Spinks and Marc in het Pan-

huis, some of the most novel applications

presented included the elusive search for

a polymer that can provide the basis for

artificial muscles. It seems that robotics

has come a long way but the remaining

hurdle to the development of high tech

robots is an artificial muscle. Similarly,

bionic body parts of the future require

gelling materials that stretch and contract

in response to chemical signals, and

spinal injury sufferers were one target

application for some of the physical gel

research using seaweed extracts. As

Prof. Paul Calvert articulated it, ―there is

a need for a dialogue between electron-

ics and cells in tissue culture‖. It seems

that the bridge between soft wet cells

and hard wired electronics needs sea-

weed gels.

In attending this workshop there was the

opportunity to present a perspective from

the field of seaweed research and high-

lighted that there are potentially many

more suitable seaweed gels in Australia’s

diverse and rich algal flora that could one

day provide a solution and deliver the

world an artificial muscle.

Southern Australia (SA) has one of the most diverse marine floras in the world with more than 1,150 species recorded of which many (~70%) are endemic to the region (Phillips 2001). This boastful biodi-versity can be attributed to both the conti-nental and marine bioregional isolation of the region as well as a legacy of produc-tive phycologists active in South Australia. South Australia is also the second state in terms of production value in aquaculture of fish species. These two attributes com-bined lend themselves to diverse opportu-nities for South Australia to develop inte-grated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) systems including the development of seaweed cultivation. Aquaculture in South Australia exceeds the value of wild sea-food production and is of significant impor-tance to regional economies and employ-ment, particularly on Eyre Peninsula. However, aquaculture development has recently slowed and the Gross Value of Production from existing aquaculture in-dustries has declined. Macroalgal aqua-culture offers a new and potentially signifi-

cant regional development opportunity to add value to the infrastructure and in-vestments made in SA.

Hence South Australia will now invest approximately $1.5M into the SARDI strategy to establish South Australia as the leading state for macroalgal produc-tion and associated research and devel-opment. This is in addition to a recent FRDC funded project to investigate the potential of seabased algal cultivation at sea that could offset nutrient inputs from seacage farming of fish and provide bio-mass for other purposes.

SA is well suited for mass cultivation of macroalgae as it has large, shallow, ex-tensive bays and Gulf waters, a range of coastal land sites and zonings in prox-imity to high nutrient, yet low contami-nated, waste-water discharges, large inland areas where saline groundwater can be sourced and is often well satu-rated with CO2 and nutrients and suitable sunlight regimes for algal production.

Acknowledging that the development of such a new industry requires consider-able investment towards vertical integra-tion and market development, SARDI’s strategy encompasses a proof-of-concept land based macroalgal production facility that can use nutrient enriched waste-water streams, use the biomass to contribute to a manufactured abalone feed, and deliver evidence of other value chains for the macroalgal biomass from animal feeds, human food to bioactive extracts. Bio-economic modelling and appropriate pol-icy development is expected to provide the basis for the development of a sustain-able macroalgal aquaculture industry in SA and will assist future investment deci-sions.

The most recently funded research and development project focuses on develop-ing the culture of three taxa of macroalgae with market potential, Gracilaria, Cladosi-phon and Ulva spp., to a proof-of-concept stage using nutrient enriched waste-water streams. The macroalgal biomass will be value-added and its performance and quality evaluated. The key outputs from the project will deliver:

The physiological growth optima Culture performance and quality Bioremediation capacity Performance as abalone feeds The acceptance as human foods The types and quality of bioactives Bio-economic models & policy reviews Recommendations for government and industry participants.

Australia has a range of agricultural and

horticultural products both manufactured

in Australia and imported, however this

industry has to rely heavily on imports

due to limited production in Australia to

date. The common appreciation of sea-

weed as good for the garden is generally

understood as a ―good fertilizer‖, how-

ever international research has delivered

evidence that goes well beyond seaweed

simply delivering macronutrients to soils

and plants. In fact, contributions of nitro-

gen and phosphorous in seaweed prod-

ucts for land plants are sometimes nearly

absent. The benefits for plants from sea-

weeds come from diverse and unique

bioactive components in seaweed, and

have diverse and interactive benefits in

the plants (see insert). In some interna-

tional studies, seaweed extracts have

been shown to be nearly as effective as

Recent scares in the media regarding

―toxic levels of iodine‖ in soy milk prod-

ucts or ―seaweed killer‖ in hotel menus is

a consequence of poor knowledge

about seaweed species and suitable

uses in foods. The former of these

scares resulted from a lack of controls in

concentrating iodine from seaweed, and

there is now a class action against the

international company responsible. The

latter doesn’t seem to be linked to sea-

weed but rather poor food handling.

Despite this, the media surrounding

these events does nothing for the suc-

cessful development of what could be a

sustainable and important health and

food industry for Australia.

We need clear and hard evidence based

claims for seaweeds as a food product

to better challenge and avoid such me-

dia scares. The dichotomy of this issue

is that seaweed as a food is worth the

better part of $8B industry globally (FAO

2008 data), is eaten extensively

throughout Asia, the biggest population

on earth, and is accepted as important

for good health, yet in the west it re-

mains an elusive and poorly understood

product with strong and conflicting im-

Page 3 Issue 1:2

ages portrayed by the media.

Seaweed is not the only nutritionally impor-

tant food that has had to deal with hyped

up media scares and irresponsible prac-

tices. The partner seafood in fish and shell-

fish has dealt with extensive debate on

issues regarding heavy metal loads, bio-

toxins, anti-biotics and sustainability. Sea-

food Services Australia and other advo-

cates of the seafood industry have fought

hard, promoted and supported research on

the benefits of seafood, especially linked to

omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. An

analogous approach for the seaweed food

sector must go hand in hand with the de-

velopment of a seaweed industry in Aus-

tralia. Australia has a good reputation for

food quality assurance and research in

health and nutrition; two characteristics

that lend themselves well to Australia con-

tributing to the lead in the development of

evidence based claims for seaweed foods;

despite being a small producer globally.

Because seaweed does belong within sea-

food, it may take advantage of an initiative

that started at the International Seafood

and Health Conference last year and that

is coming to fruition. The intent is to proac-

tively address some of the scares linked

to seafood and establish what the key

and important health benefits are through

a website where people can have a one-

stop shop regarding seafood & health

information. GILLS, or the Global Initia-

tive for Life and Leadership through Sea-

food, website was launched last month at

the IAFI World Seafood Congress in

Washington. The website was estab-

lished by Auburn University (USA), Tamil

Nadu University (India) and Universidad

de Cantabria (Spain) and can be viewed

at www.gillseafood.com.

Although in its early stages, the intent of

GILLS is to provide a repository for all

medical research related to seafood. A

unique aspect of the seaweed health

applications that can add to this knowl-

edge base are the unique health benefits

that have been demonstrated from sea-

weeds including the sulfated polysaccha-

rides and other unique metabolites. Sea-

weed researchers in the field of food and

health research will need collectively con-

tribute to GILLS and similar communica-

tion tools to deliver a consistent message

beyond the walls of science.

pesticides without the toxic activity, but

rather by a plant strengthening and resis-

tance approach (Paulert et al. 2010 and

Craigie 2010). Despite this international

research, Australia and New Zealand

remain sceptical to these results and arti-

cles have recently been published about

the ―Snake Oil or Crop Insurance‖ diver-

gent views on the issue (Good Fruit and

Vegetables May 2011).

Although crop application research has

reached high levels of sophistication inter-

nationally, Australia has lagged in the

scientific approach in demonstrating how

and why seaweeds are beneficial to land

plants and this will be essential to main-

streaming and increasing the develop-

ment of this industry and the significant

crop benefits that such applications can

contribute to.

It is encouraging that some well accepted

companies like Seasol are therefore em-

bracing a scientific approach to delivering

evidence for seaweed based applications

in agriculture. Although Seasol has been

manufactured in Australia since 1975, it

did not gain significant notoriety until the

late 1990’s but has still stayed on the

fringe of mainstream horticulture and re-

ceived much opposition from conventional

agronomists. This was partly due to a gen-

eral misunderstanding about its scope of

action. For example, seaweed applica-

tions that protect plants during times of

stress were too often confused as a

―fertiliser effect‖’. Products like Seasol

however are now well established in

grapes, almonds, vegetables, turf and

ornamental horticulture and this has trig-

gered investment in R&D on the functional

links between seaweeds and crops.

In 2010, Dr Tony Arioli was appointed as

the director of R&D at Seasol to pursue

this. Recruited from the Bayer Crop Sci-

ences Cotton R&D Centre, an ultimate

goal is to be the first Australian seaweed

company to achieve the registration of a

kelp product in agriculture.

http://www.rdaillawarra.com.au/home/our-priorities/green-jobs/green-jobs-illawarra-project/transforming-australia-jobs-industry-and-the-green-economy-conference-and-smart-living-expo-24th-26th-july-2011/

Page 4

Seaweeds Australia was invited to present

at the recent Transforming Australia con-

ference at the Novotel in Wollongong.

The conference was organised by the Re-

gional Development Australia (RDA)

Green Jobs Illawarra Project, and the

theme was Jobs, Industry & the Green

Economy Conference. There were many

interesting presentations on sustainability

opportunities and a particular focus on

jobs creation. An impressive line up of

speakers including Climate Commission-

ers Tim Flannery, and Will Steffen, as well

as national, state and local government

leaders and frontline local government

initiatives. Waste re-use and sustainable

building and materials industries domi-

nated the presentations at the conference,

and the massive gains that can be made

by making the existing Australian frame-

works more efficient was outlined very well

by Ana Skarbeck of ClimateWorks who

presented the Eureka award winning cost

curve of where Australia can make gains.

It was a great opportunity to showcase the

potential for algal industries to add to the

Ana Skarbeck’s presentation can be

found at the Transforming Australia

website, as can the presentation repre-

senting the potential role for seaweed

industries in Transforming Australia:

In the south east coast of Australia, a well

documented hotspot for sea surface tem-

perature rise (see figure), seaweeds are

starting to feel the heat. A recently pub-

lished study by seaweed researchers at

the University of NSW found that Delisea

pulchra, a common red seaweed in tem-

perate south eastern Australia is more

susceptible to bacterial infection that

causes bleaching when exposed to higher

temperatures.

The study showed that warmer waters

were consistently and positively correlated

with higher frequencies of bleaching in

seaweed populations, but that this was

not linked to light levels. Temperature

itself seemed to be the cause of bleach-

ing, and bleached seaweeds had low lev-

els of antibacterial chemical defences

relative to healthy populations of this sea-

weed.

In support of the bacterial infection theory,

microbial communities associated with

bleached algae were distinct from those

on the surfaces of healthy seaweeds, and

direct field based tests showed the impor-

tance of algal chemical defences.

The molecules associated with anti-

bacterial activity in D. pulchra includes the

brominated furanones and these were also manipulated in the field to show that a

lack of these furanones resulted in increased bleaching under elevated water tem-

peratures.

Considering the scale of this habitat forming species in South Eastern Australia,

these findings can imply that there will be significant ecosystem effects from a decline

in abundance of D. pulchra with consequences for the food chain and species such

as sea urchins that are linked to chemical cues from this seaweed (Williamson et al.

2000).

This paper was published by Campbell et al. in Global Change Biology (2011) 17,

2958–2970, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02456.x . Photograph sourced at : http://

old.bees.unsw.edu.au/school/researchstudents/campbellalexandra.html

Sea Surface Temperature anomalies in the Tas-man Sea as recorded over the last 30 years.

future suite of new, sustainable, regional

industries in Australia with net carbon re-

ductions through both cultivation and appli-

cations in agriculture. Considering that

agriculture is one of the existing Australian

industries with low cost of carbon reduction

gains as outlined by Ana Skarbeck, the

macroalgal appli-

cations industries

should embrace

such an opportu-

nity to engage

with traditional

agricultural indus-

tries.

For the remainder of 2012 and into 2013,

Seaweeds Australia will continue to oper-

ate as a stakeholder network under an

organised yet informal structure. Already

the interest in Seaweeds Australia has

increased with the distribution of the

newsletter to over 100 national stake-

holders across all themes, as well as in-

terested networks internationally including

similar applied phycology networks, bio-

tech companies, researchers, chefs, agri-

culture and aquaculture industries and

energy companies. In addition there is a

strong interest from the general public,

most often in relation to the food and

health properties of seaweed.

Once again, the

great potential for algal biofuels was a

key focus of ISAP 2011. However in con-

trast to 2008, there was an emphasis on

the grounding of true production rates

and yields of algal biomass in scaled up

conditions. There were fewer inflated

claims of miracle production levels and

culture systems for algae, however this

did not imply that algal production for

biofuels is off the radar. In contrast the

presentations in this field were con-

structive and addressed a range of the

limiting factors including strain selection,

culture conditions and extraction proc-

esses to optimise the production of algae

for biofuels. These sessions covered

both microalgae and macroalgae.

Aligned with the conference theme of

―scaling up‖, there was an emphasis on

identifying the barriers to moving research

outcomes from the laboratory and demon-

stration plants to real world conditions.

This included not only the technical chal-

lenges of going from a small culture vessel

to large ones, but the need for multidisci-

plinary contributions in overcoming a

range of scaling up barriers from the culti-

vation, engineering and processing to the

economics of production.

The application of algae in health and nu-

trition was a key focus of ISAP 2011 and

emphasized the need for delivering consis-

tent and reliable biomass or extracts with

demonstrated bioactivity.

An expanded summary of ISAP 2011 has

been written for Seaweeds Australia and

will be available through the Rural Indus-

tries Research & Development website in

the near future. In addition a range of se-

For this diverse group of stakeholders to

most efficiently communicate without the

hassle of alerts to items of low interest

(a common feature of networks), stake-

holders of Seaweeds Australia will be

able to be included in the network to

receive alerts and information that suits

their level of interest (table below). The

newsletter will be emailed out to every-

one currently on the stakeholder list, and

an additional email will be sent as an

invitation to join the LinkedIn network.

LinkedIn provides a pubic forum for

stakeholders to discuss, promote and

follow initiatives in their field of interest.

The Seaweeds Australia LinkedIn group

will be established with 6 key discus-

Page 5 Issue 1:2

sions including Cultivation, Biotechnology,

Food & Nutrition, Aquaculture and Agricul-

ture Applications and Natural Resource

management. In addition, further discus-

sion groups can be established by network

stakeholders and may range from sea-

weed art to high tech methodologies.

In addition, a website has been estab-

lished and is currently hosted by the

University of Wollongong (http://

www.uow.edu.au/science/research/

smfc/seaweedsaustralia/index.html). It

is envisaged that this website can grow

to host lists of publications within the

themes by stakeholders of Seaweeds

Australia.

Communication & Extension Stakeholder Categories

Seaweeds Australia Newsletter Newsletter Only Stake-holders

LinkedIn Stakeholders LinkedIn R,D&I Sub-group Stakeholders

(email link for each newsletter released)

Seaweeds Australia LinkedIn (newsletter alerts, theme and general discussion groups online, promotions, jobs)

Seaweeds Australia LinkedIn R,D & I Sub-group (as for LinkedIn stakeholder but with access to Sub Group Discussions on Research, Development and In-dustry priorities and strategies for Seaweeds Australia)

lected papers from the congress will be

published in the scientific peer reviewed

Journal of Applied Phycology.

Another effort at ISAP 2011 by Seaweeds

Australia, and supported by microalgae

representatives Prof. Michael Borowitska

of Murdoch University and Dr. Susan

Blackburn of the CSIRO, was to bid to

host ISAP 2014 in Sydney, Australia. Af-

ter an ISAP Executive Committee voting

process, Sydney Australia has won the

bid. This means that in the next 3 years,

Australia will be the host to two peak in-

ternational conferences; APCAB in 2012

and ISAP in 2014 (see events on page 6).

As indicated in the previous newsletter,

Seaweeds Australia stakeholders with an

interest in contributing to the organisation

of this event are encouraged, as are

members of the microalgal networks. Al-

though the core organising committee has

been established, there are sure to be

constructive inputs towards the develop-

ment of themes, industries for exhibitions

and sponsorship of the event. Opportuni-

ties to contribute ideas to ISAP 2014 will

exist through the LinkedIn forum (see

below) as well as future editions of the

newsletter.

The Shoalhaven Marine &

Freshwater Centre at the Uni-

versity of Wollongong is the

host organization for Sea-

weeds Australia

Please send any ccomments,

contributions or novel notes on

seaweed to pia@uow.edu.au.

Seaweeds Australia

c/o Shoalhaven Marine &

Freshwater Centre

Shoalhaven Campus

PO Box 5080 Nowra DC

NSW 2541 Australia

Page 6

Ashmore Foods (Hobart, Tasmania - seafood

specialists) are launching a new seaweed food

product. In conjunction with Marinova (Hobart

based Fucoidan manufacturer and supplier),

Ashmores is supplying Undaria pinnatifida as

Wakame (fronds) and Mekabu (sporophylls) to

restuarants and wholesalers in Hobart, Mel-

bourne, Sydney and Brisbane. This is a fresh

blanched snap frozen product. You may be

more familiar with the imported salted or

dried wakame available generally throughout

Australia. Now it is possible to buy Australian,

clean and green, grown in Tasmania's pristine

oceanic waters.

“Strengthening strategic and successful algal industries for

the future: key knowledge and skills gaps”