The state Board of Land and Natural Resources voted to move forward with an initiative to raise and preserve native and endemic limu species in Hawaiʻi.
Last week the board approved a project submitted by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources and the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaiʻi to construct a limu — or seaweed — nursery at the Ānuenue Fisheries Research Center on Oʻahu’s Sand Island.
Researchers will explore techniques for raising limu species.
“Part of our effort is to get to an effective state where we are able to restore limu in the native ecosystem, but ultimately our end goal is to get to a state where, maybe, we're able to outplant limu that are attached to substratum, like pōhaku (rocks) or different woven materials that are traditional,” said Anthony Mau, a DAR aquaculture biologist, during Friday’s land board meeting.
The limu would also be grown to support traditional and cultural practices, as well as for food security.
Throughout the project, researchers would collect specimens from 12 to 18 species of limu, research the best ways to raise them, and then make them available to public stakeholders. The species to be prioritized are those most important to Hawaiians.
DAR said in its written request for the projectʻs approval that it will be the first publicly accessible limu repository.
About $135,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would fund the one-year project.
