A bioeconomic analysis of the potential of seaweed Hypnea pseudomusciformis farming to different targeted markets

Simulations were performed to evaluate the economic potential of farming the seaweed Hypnea pseudomusciformis in two production scales for the carrageenan, human food, and glycolic extract markets in Brazil. The initial investment was low in all scenarios (US$25,579 in 7.5 ha and US$71,202 in 22.5 ha farms). Labor and taxes were the major production costs for production commercialized for the carrageenan and human food markets, respectively. Liquid glycerin and bottles were the main costs when the productions were marketed for glycolic extract. The carrageenan market showed no economic feasibility. On the other hand, the human consumption market was shown as very profitable, resilient, and highly attractive (IRR was ∼100%). Marketing the glycolic extract is also feasible and attractive (IRR was ∼25%) but had lower economic indicators and low resilience when compared to the human food market scenario. Upscaling the production optimized investments and reduced production costs, improving profitability. The plasticity of seaweed enables entrepreneurs to explore different markets simultaneously to increase farm resilience.本研究通过模拟实验，评估了在巴西境内以两种生产规模养殖拟藓状麒麟菜（Hypnea pseudomusciformis），用于卡拉胶、人类食品及乙醇酸提取物三类市场的经济潜力。所有模拟场景的初始投资均较低：7.5公顷农场的初始投资为25579美元，22.5公顷农场则为71202美元。针对卡拉胶市场的商业化生产，主要生产成本为劳动力；面向人类食品市场的商业化生产，主要生产成本则为税费。当产品面向乙醇酸提取物市场销售时，主要成本为液态甘油与包装瓶。卡拉胶市场不具备经济可行性。与之相对，人类食用市场展现出极强的盈利性、抗风险能力与市场吸引力，内部收益率（IRR）约为100%。乙醇酸提取物市场同样具备可行性与吸引力，内部收益率约为25%，但相较于人类食品市场场景，其经济指标更低且抗风险能力偏弱。扩大生产规模可优化投资结构、降低生产成本，进而提升盈利水平。海藻养殖的灵活性可让从业者同时开拓多个目标市场，以此提升农场的抗风险能力。