Investigation and prevention of insect contamination of a high-value marine plant product

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Through large-scale outdoor production in tanks, Acadian Seaplants Limited (ASL) is the worlds largestindependent manufacturer of the seaweed Chondrus crispus, a prized food product that sells for $50-100/kg ininternational markets. International markets, mainly buyers in Japan, demand exceptionally high quality, andhave low tolerance for insects and insect fragments, essentially requiring 100% pure seaweed ingredients. ASLcurrently experiences low-level contamination from insects of its outdoor tanks that hold and grow C. crispus.Numerous post-harvest quality control measures are used to address this problem, but low levels of insects andinsect parts continue to persist in the salable C. crispus product. ASL therefore needs to reduce the quantity ofinsects entering outdoor production tanks prior to harvest, but does not have adequate understanding of theproblem to enact interventions. The proposed research will investigate pre-harvest factors influencing insectpresence in a high-value marine plant product. The research will address four questions identified by ASL: (1)What insect groups pose the largest threat to product quality?; (2) What spatial or management factors moststrongly explain insect incidence?; (3) What temporal variation is associated with insect incidence in harvestedproduct?; and (4) Can modified tank design or fencing offer scope in reducing insect contamination?Through a comprehensive season-long survey (1-3), and an ecological study of insect flight habits (4), we hopeto, respectively, quantify the factors which explain the presence of insects in harvested product, and proposepotential solutions to limit it. ASL believes this proposed research will provide insight and direction foroptimizing product quality, via informing pre-harvest management practices.