Cultivation of Gracilaria verrucosa (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta) Strain G-16 for agar

The agarophyte, Gracilaria verrucosa Strain G-16, has been grown in sustained cultivation over a period of five years. During this period, a number of experiments were conducted to examine the productivity, agar yield and agar gel strength of this strain. Productivities range from 3–31 g dry wt m−2 d−1 and are generally highest in the summer when annual water temperatures and daily irradiances are highest. In the summer months agar yield from Strain G-16 appears to be lowest whereas the gel strength of the agars was highest (> 750 g cm−2).