Comparison of the cultivation performance between Korean (Sugwawon No. 301) and Chinese strains (Huangguan No. 1) of kelp Saccharina japonica in an aquaculture farm in Korea

Saccharina japonica was introduced to both Korea and China from Hokkaido, Japan, and it has become an economically important species in both nations. After a long period of cultivation, several varieties of S. japonica have been developed in Korea and China. In this study, we conducted aquacultural research on the persistence of thalli from two kelp cultivars, one from China (Huangguan No. 1) and one from Korea (Sugwawon No. 301), between December 2015 and November 2016 in Haenam, Korea. The maximum length was $247.8{\pm}13.0$ and $227.5{\pm}42.0cm$, respectively, which were significantly longer in Sugwawon No. 301 than in Huangguan No. 1. The maximum width was $29.9{\pm}5.4$ and $23.2{\pm}1.9cm$, respectively, which were significantly wider in Huangguan No. 1 than in Sugwawon No. 301. The mean biomass obtained from the culture ropes was for Sugwawon No. 301 was $3.5{\pm}0.3kg\;wet\;wt\;m^{-1}$ and for while Huangguan No. 1 was $3.1{\pm}1.0kg\;wet\;wt\;m^{-1}$ of culture rope. After August, the persistence of the thalli of Sugwawon No. 301 was two months longer than that of Huangguan No. 1. We found that the Sugwawon No. 301 performed as well as the Huangguan No. 1 in Korean waters possibly due to increased flexibility as a result of the different cell arrangements of the two cultivars. Overall, the use of the Sugwawon No. 301 cultivar rather than the Huangguan No. 1 cultivar of S. japonica appears the best alternative to help to ensure a stable year round algal feed supply for the Korean abalone industry.