Abstract
Cultivation of the Hiziki, Sargassum fusiforme, by clipping plants collected from naturally growing population between culture ropes was conducted off Kunimi, Kunisaki peninsula, Oita, Japan from November 2000 to May 2001. The growth of Hiziki plants was slow until March 2001 but increased thereafter and plant length reached more than 1m by the end of May. Hiziki was harvested from the end of April to the early part of May and yields were over 10 kg wet weight per 1m of the culture rope. Various algae and animals attached to the cultured Hiziki, and hence the harvest time of marketable Hiziki was only until early May. A comparison between cultured and naturally growing Hiziki showed that cultured Hiziki was shorter but heavier than its naturally growing counterpart, mainly because the former had denser thalli with more vesicles and fronds than the naturally growing ones. This is the first report on Hiziki cultivation along the coast of Japan using the technique of clipping naturally growing plants between culture ropes.
