Nori Cultivated

Nori· is the Japanese name and "'zic:ai'" (purple vegetable) is the Chinese for a flat blade-like red seaweed belonging to the genus Porphyra _ The use of this seaweed is thought by some sources to have been introduced into Japan from China; however, evidence to support thiS is scanty. According to Arasaki &. Arasaki (1983) a number of seaweeds were gathered by early hunter-­gatherers in Japan bases on remains fOund at archaeological sites. In the poetic Manyoshu (Eighth Century), no specific mention of non is made. The Taiho Laws (701; Nara period 701­784) introduced taxes on land and foods, including nori. The Engishilci (edited in 905-967) stipulated the details of religious cermonies that included offerings of amanOO (a type of Porphyra), were used as offerings, a practice seemingly introduced from China. Until the 17th century (Edo period 1600-1867), field-gathered plants were used but when the supply became inadequate, cultivation was started in the 17th century; production was initially confined to Tokyo Bay_

Before World War II, production of nOO was at rather low levels and it was a much-prized and expensive food. Various new techniques develOped after the War induding net cultivation, cultivation with an open-water system of floating nets, artificial seeding of conchospores. low temperature storage of nursery nets, and mechanisation of dried nori manufacturing processes, all of which made a rapid increase in output possible.

The ever-increasing demand for this seaweed has made nori cultivation the largest marine aquaculture industry in Japan. Non is now cultivated mainly in the Inland Sea of Japan in south eastern Japan, with smaller units being fOund along the coasts of north eastern Honshu and Hokkaido. Annual production of nori in Japan in the period 1925 - 1951 was about 3-5,000 t wet weight peT annum; in the period 1958 - 1980 production jumped from 5,000 t to about 35,000 t per year, largely due to the artifidal seeding of nets using the ConChocelis -phase. The Japanese non industry is now a highly mechaniSed, efficient operation that employs some 60,000 people on a part-time basis and some 67,000 hectares of Japanese waters are occupied by Porphyra nets. The wholesale price of nori in 1979 was 350 yen per leg wet weight. Today, about 350,000 tonnes of wet nori are produced in Japan with a retail value of in excess of US$l billion (Niwa. Kobivama &. Aruga. 2006).

In China, 7,200 dry tonnes are produced with a value of about US$30 million, making Porphyra the Single most valuable plant or animal crop grown by cultivation in the sea. Nori is a high-value crop and although some science and technology has gone into the development of cultivation, all nori plants are still grown in the sea. In Japan, the industry remains largely in the hands of small co-operatives.

Nori, which is usually sold as a rectangular sheet measuring 19 x 21 em, is the most commonly eaten alga in Japan. The sheets are broiled lightly over- a fire, cut into small pieces and seasoned with soy sauce fOr eating with rice. It is used in a Similar fashion in China and Korea. Consumption levels of nori in Europe are currently at a minuscule level, but it may be that in the future a higher demand for this product will emerge. Some areas of the west coast of Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal may be suitable for nori cultivation but viability studiies are necessary. It is unlikely that the Mediterranean will be a suitable area for nori

I betieve nori is the most consumed seaweed in the world and the market is very good. China and Japan has been doing a lot of cultivation on this seaweed for their domestic consumption and export.

Indonesia do has one species of this Porphyra (genus) seaweed and it was found at Ambon many years ago. Unfortunately, there has no further research done on this new finding of a vey important species of seaweed. I hope someone out there will do something on this. In fact I had met a researcher from China last year in Kobe and Prof. Cheng is very interested to get some sample for his stock collections of Porphyra. I have a very interesting discussion with him and I found out that actually you can keep Porphyra "alive" even in dry form for about a week. This is vey amazing to know such thing and I do very interest to help Prof Cheng to get some stock for him so he can do more researches on this highly economic seaweed.

Anyone out there have any access for this Porpyhra from Ambon in Indonesia?