Seaweed resources of Poland

Poland, a Central European country with a Baltic Sea coastline of 634 km, has no tradition of nearshore cultivation of seaweeds or utilization of this biomass. The Baltic is known for its eutrophication. Numerous attempts are being made to combat this phenomenon as well as to find applications for the beach-cast and free-floating macroalgae, which are a nuisance in many areas. Seaweed harvesting can mitigate eutrophication by the reduction of nutrients - especially nitrogen and phosphorus - in water. Collected biomass can be utilised in agriculture as biofertilisers and used as a valuable raw material for the manufacture of high-value macroalgal products, such as biostimulants of plant growth, feed additives, components of cosmetics, food additives or biogas as a form of renewable energy. The Baltic abounds in green macroalgae (Ulva sp. and Cladophora sp.) with brown (Ectocarpus sp., Pilayella sp., Fucus vesiculosus) and red algae (Vertebrata sp., Ceramium sp., Furcellaria sp.) occurring in much smaller quantities. These seaweeds are also of great interest as bioindicators of environmental pollution. The seaweeds in the southern Baltic Sea still represent an unexploited biomass and can be a huge source of innovation. New approaches towards macroalgal utilisation are in demand.