Carrageenan can be described as being a segment of the “food ingredients business” but the cultivation of seaweeds is part of the “aquaculture business”. Standard aquaculture protocols are at their formative stages throughout most of the world but initiatives for TSV stakeholders to monitor and/or participate in include the following:

EUREPGAP - Euro Retailer Produce Working Group (EUREP) on standards and procedures for the development of  Good Aquaculture Practices (GAP) in conventional agriculture (General regulations for  integrated aquaculture assurance; Control points and compliance criteria for integrated aquaculture assurance; Interpretation guideline to control points compliance criteria  integrated aquaculture assurance)

FAO Guidelines for Aquaculture Certification (under development). Includes Fisheries eco-labeling guidelines; control points and compliance criteria; integrated aquaculture assurance; and interpretation guidelines to control points compliance criteria for integrated aquaculture assurance.

Quarantine protocols for tropical seaweeds Sulu, R., Kumar, L., Hay, C. and Pickering, T. 2004. Kappaphycusseaweed in the Pacific : review of introductions and field testing proposed quarantine protocols. Noumea: Secretariat of the Pacific Community. (Aquaculture Technical Papers / Pickering) ISSN 1683-7568. Agdex Pacific Islands 395/609.  ISBN 982-00-0041-6

www.algaebase.org provides comprehensive lists of  common names , generic & specific names designated according to internationally recognized systems that enable unequivocal identification of seaweed species. Regulations, standards and protocols are often meaningless unless product identity is unequivocally established. Nomenclature for tropical agar and carrageenan seaweeds are also provided in this Guide.

Good agronomy practices for Kappaphycus and Eucheuma: including an overview of basic biology. (SEAPlant.net Monograph no. HB2F 1008 V3 GAP) addresses the issue of identity standards and puts them in a biological context.

With support and encouragement from GTZ, BIMP-EAGA is in the process of putting together linkages among organizations conducting R & D relevant to the development of tropical seaweed-based value chains. Meanwhile some useful links are:

www.enaca.org – the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific.

Tropical Red Seaweeds as a Foundation for Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA); Four propositions and an action plan for this major opportunity in the Coral Triangle. (SEAPlant.net Monograph no. HB2E 1008 V1 IMTA).