Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2021

Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V28

Mechanical harvesting of Ascophyllum nodosum in Breiðafjörður, Iceland; The pattern of mechanical harvesting in the Ascophyllum zone

Höfundar / Authors: Lilja Gunnarsdóttir (1,2), Karl Gunnarsson (1)

Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. Hafrannsóknastofnun, 2. Háskóli Íslands

Kynnir / Presenter: Lilja Gunnarsdóttir

Harvesting of Ascophyllum nodosum has been conducted with mechanical harvesters in Breiðafjörður for over 40 years. The mechanical harvesters are limited in their access to the resource due to their size, maneuverability and the irregular topography of the shore. Experimental plots were harvested in Breiðafjörður with a mechanical harvester. The biomass of these plots was measured before and after harvesting to determine the effectiveness of the harvesting operation at different levels of the shore. The harvesters are mostly harvesting in the middle part of the Ascophyllum nodosum zone which is also the part where the largest biomass of the seaweed is located. In the upper and lower part of the shore they are much less effective.