Cultivating Palmaria palmata - Bord Iascaigh Mhara

ed colour, microscopic algae may have settled on the surface of the fronds without being detectable.
To test the quality, small volumes of fronds should be removed from the tanks for drying. Healthy, high
quality fronds keep a dark red colour when dried, whereas fouled fronds appear to have a green, slightly
fluffy cover, especially on the older parts of fronds (Fig. 8.4). If the number of fouled fronds increases
significantly, fresh Palmaria should be collected from the field and the tanks re-stocked.
Fig. 8.4. Dried Palmaria samples after three weeks of tank cultivation. Sample T10
(bottom right) shows a surface cover of green microscopic algae.
57