Marine Fisheries Information Service No.251

Seaweeds are a valuable trade commodity which finds use in food processing, pharmaceutical and wellness sectors, due to the products such as agar, algin and carrageenan that can be extracted from them. Reports from FAO suggest that global trade in seaweed and related products is expected to be around 26 million US$ by 2025. Considering the potential for seaweed farming in India, the Union Government has promoted farming, training and creation of infrastructure for the same through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. The two articles on seaweeds presented in this issue of MFIS report significant findings during the lab and field experiments related to seaweed culture. Other articles included are that of batoid diversity in the elasmobranch landings that document important observations of this diverse and little documented group from Indian EEZ, as well as notes on dealing with fish health, marine biodiversity and other interesting information collected by the researchers