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National Committee on Marine Sciences (NCMS)

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    Ocean urea fertilization for carbon credits poses high ecological risks
    Glibert, Patricia M.; Azanza, Rhodora; Burford, Michele; Furuya, Ken; Abal, Eva; Al-Azri, Adnan; Al-Yamani, Faiza; Andersen, Per; Anderson, Donald M.; Beardall, John; Berg, G. Mine; Brand, Larry; Bronk, Deborah; Brookes, Justin; Burkholder, JoAnn M.; Cembella, Allan; Cochlan, William P.; Collier, Jackie L.; Collos, Yves; Diaz, Robert; Doblin, Martina; Drennen, Thomas; Dyhrman, Sonya; Fukuyo, Yasuwo; Furnas, Miles; Galloway, James; Granéli, Edna; Ha, Dao Viet; Hallegraeff, Gustaaf; Harrison, John; Harrison, Paul J.; Heil, Cynthia A.; Heimann, Kirsten; Howarth, Robert; Jauzein, Cécile; Kana, Austin A.; Kana, Todd M.; Kim, Hakgyoon; Kudela, Raphael; Legrand, Catherine; Mallin, Michael; Mulholland, Margaret; Murray, Shauna; O'Neil, Judith; Pitcher, Grant; Qi, Yuzao; Rabalais, Nancy; Raine, Robin; Seitzinger, Sybil; Salomon, Paulo S.; Solomon, Caroline; Stoecker, Diane K.; Usup, Gires; Wilson, Joanne; Yin, Kedong; Zhou, Mingjiang; Zhu, Mingyuan (Elsevier, 2008)
    The proposed plan for enrichment of the Sulu Sea, Philippines, a region of rich marine biodiversity, with thousands of tonnes of urea in order to stimulate algal blooms and sequester carbon is flawed for multiple reasons. Urea is preferentially used as a nitrogen source by some cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates, many of which are neutrally or positively buoyant. Biological pumps to the deep sea are classically leaky, and the inefficient burial of new biomass makes the estimation of a net loss of carbon from the atmosphere questionable at best. The potential for growth of toxic dinoflagellates is also high, as many grow well on urea and some even increase their toxicity when grown on urea. Many toxic dinoflagellates form cysts which can settle to the sediment and germinate in subsequent years, forming new blooms even without further fertilization. If large-scale blooms do occur, it is likely that they will contribute to hypoxia in the bottom waters upon decomposition. Lastly, urea production requires fossil fuel usage, further limiting the potential for net carbon sequestration. The environmental and economic impacts are potentially great and need to be rigorously assessed.
  • DENR seeking sites for seaweed farming
    Kritz, Ben (The Manila Times Publishing Corporation, 2016-12-08)
    The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is seeking areas where local production of seaweed can either be started or increased, both as a livelihood measure for coastal communities and as an effective measure against the impacts of climate change. Research in recent years has found that many varieties of seaweed, including types that are commercially farmed in the Philippines and other countries, have unique characteristics that give them carbon sequestration abilities. DENR Secretary Gina Lopez told reporters and seaweed farming stakeholders in a roundtable discussion last week at the training center of the Biodiversity Management Bureau in Quezon City that the DENR has started identifying potential sites for seaweed farming in the country, with the help of other government agencies and local residents.