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Analysis of Peruvian seaweed exports during the period 1995–2020 using trade data

  • José Avila-Peltroche

    José Avila-Peltroche is a postdoctoral researcher at the Plant Phylogeny Laboratory, Chosun University, South Korea. He obtained his BSc in Biological Sciences from Ricardo Palma University (Peru) and his PhD from Chosun University. His research interests include taxonomy, phylogeny, culture and cryopreservation of macroalgae, focusing on protoplast isolation and whole plant regeneration from Phaeophyceae. He is also co-founder and administrator of the science popularization initiative Macroalgas Marinas del Peru (Seaweeds of Peru).

     ORCID logo EMAIL logo     and Gunter Villena-Sarmiento

    Gunter Villena-Sarmiento is a Fishing Engineer with a specialty in Aquaculture from the National Agrarian University La Molina (Peru). He has 25 years of experience developing products, processes, and cultivation of marine macroalgae. Gunter’s experience also includes training on seaweed biology and cultivation in Peru and Chile. He currently works at Seaweed Technology EIRL and as an independent consultant in business management, innovation, and technology.
Published/Copyright: April 25, 2022
Botanica Marina
From the journal Botanica Marina Volume 65 Issue 3

Abstract

Peru is the second largest seaweed producer in the Americas. Nevertheless, the actual extent and trends of exports of various seaweeds are not known. This study is the first to summarize and analyze the official seaweed export statistics for Peru, which cover 1995–2020. Total exports showed a considerable increase from 2008, reaching their highest historical volume in 2019 (33,948 metric tons dry weight plus 3 metric tons of fresh/frozen weight). China dominated the market by importing 90% of the total Peruvian production of seaweeds. A low percentage of the exports (3%) corresponded to red seaweeds (mainly Chondracanthus chamissoi for industrial use). Export volumes of C. chamissoi have been decreasing since 2015, however prices have continued to increase. Brown seaweeds accounted for 97% of the exports. These were dominated by Lessonia berteroana until 2007 and then by Macrocystis pyrifera. The latter showed the highest overall growth rate (47%). Wet biomass estimations showed a gap between the data reflecting what is officially harvested versus what is actually exported. This “unreported biomass” might reflect the government’s lack of control of seaweed harvesting. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic showed a negative impact on exports with M. pyrifera being the most affected species.

Keywords: growth rate; instability; prices; seaweed exports
Corresponding author: José Avila-Peltroche, Department of Life Science, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Korea, E-mail:

About the authors

José Avila-Peltroche

José Avila-Peltroche is a postdoctoral researcher at the Plant Phylogeny Laboratory, Chosun University, South Korea. He obtained his BSc in Biological Sciences from Ricardo Palma University (Peru) and his PhD from Chosun University. His research interests include taxonomy, phylogeny, culture and cryopreservation of macroalgae, focusing on protoplast isolation and whole plant regeneration from Phaeophyceae. He is also co-founder and administrator of the science popularization initiative Macroalgas Marinas del Peru (Seaweeds of Peru).

Gunter Villena-Sarmiento

Gunter Villena-Sarmiento is a Fishing Engineer with a specialty in Aquaculture from the National Agrarian University La Molina (Peru). He has 25 years of experience developing products, processes, and cultivation of marine macroalgae. Gunter’s experience also includes training on seaweed biology and cultivation in Peru and Chile. He currently works at Seaweed Technology EIRL and as an independent consultant in business management, innovation, and technology.

Acknowledgments

We kindly appreciate Gustavo Hernandez Carmona for his suggestions and English review. The authors thank the reviewers for their contribution to our work.

  1. Author contribution: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission. All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Export data was collected by Gunter Villena-Sarmiento. Data analysis was performed by José Avila-Peltroche. The first draft of the manuscript was written by José Avila-Peltroche and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

  2. Research funding: None declared.

  3. Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.

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Supplementary Material

The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2022-0002).

Received: 2022-01-04
Revised: 2022-03-28
Accepted: 2022-04-07
Published Online: 2022-04-25
Published in Print: 2022-06-27

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. In this issue
  3. Obituary
  4. Robert Thayer Wilce, pioneer of Arctic marine botany (9 December 1924–26 February 2022)
  5. Taxonomy/Phylogeny and Biogeography
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https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2022-0002
Keywords for this article
growth rate; instability; prices; seaweed exports

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. In this issue
  3. Obituary
  4. Robert Thayer Wilce, pioneer of Arctic marine botany (9 December 1924–26 February 2022)
  5. Taxonomy/Phylogeny and Biogeography
  6. Skeletonema species (Bacillariophyta) from the northwestern Sea of Japan: morphology, ecology, seasonal and long-term dynamics
  7. Three new species of Asteromenia (Hymenocladiaceae, Rhodophyta) from Australia
  8. Genomics
  9. Genetic diversity of Undaria pinnatifida populations from China and their genetic relationship with those from Japan and Korea as revealed by mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences
  10. Development and validation of microsatellite markers for Sargassum fusiforme based on transcriptomic data
  11. Chemistry and Applications
  12. Analysis of Peruvian seaweed exports during the period 1995–2020 using trade data
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