A guide for good harvesting practices of macroalgae in Azores (NE Atlantic) : The project ASPAZOR and the case study of Asparagopsis spp.

Surely, most of the people at large have said or heard that seaweeds are only “plants of the sea”, which can be smelly when lying at the beach, without being aware of how important they are in the marine ecosystem (Mouritsen, 2013). Roughly, seaweeds, also known as macroalgae, are eukaryote, multicellular and macroscopic benthic algae, normally attached to firm substrata, mostly on rocky shores (Adams, 1994; Dawes, 1998; Rosas-Alquicira et al., 2012; Hurd et al., 2014). They are essentially found in the marine environment, although they may occur in brackish or even freshwater environments (Neto et al., 2005; Neto & Pinto, 2018). All seaweeds are algae, but not all algae are seaweeds, e.g. the microscopic algae, known as microalgae and/or phytoplankton (Mouritsen, 2013). Nevertheless, all seaweeds, at some point of their life cycle, are microscopic or unicellular, either as spores or as zygotes (Amsler & Searles, 1980; Lobban & Harrison, 1994). As with higher plants, they are oxygenic photosynthetic organisms, but here most algae cells contain the green pigment chlorophyll a that captures the needed sun’s energy for photosynthesis, the process of building energy-rich compounds (carbohydrates) from CO2 and the macro and micro nutrients available in the water (Mouritsen, 2013; Barsanti & Gualtieri, 2014; Neto & Pinto, 2018). Yet, they differ from plants in the determinant fact that they do not have true tissues, such as leaves, steams, roots or a transporting network, and neither produce flowers or seeds (Mouritsen, 2013; Neto & Pinto, 2018). Instead, they have an undifferentiated vegetative tissue called thallus, which is the plant body and may be simple or composed by a blade or frond (structure similar to a leaf) and a stipe or axis (similar to a stem). Some of them are attached to the substratum by a holdfast, whereas other use rhizoids or stolon-like structures (Neto et al., 2005). Moreover, seaweeds use simple reproductive structures to complete their life cycle by releasing gametes or spores into the environment (Barsanti & Gualtieri, 2014; Neto & Pinto, 2018). […].Project ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000060 – ASPAZOR: Ecosystem impacts and socioeconomic benefits of Asparagopsis armata in the Azores. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UID/BIA/00329/2015-2018, 2019 e UID/BIA/00329/2020-2023); Direção Regional da Ciência e Tecnologia.