Management of natural beds and standing stock evaluation of Hypnea musciformis (Gigartinales, Rhodophyta) in south-eastern Brazil

Hypnea musciformis, a source of-carrageenan, is abundant along the coast ofBrazil. Although the species has been exploitedsporadically on the north-east coast, this has beendone in the absence of data on seasonal fluctuationsin stock and on management of the natural beds. Thispaper evaluates the stock of a population from theUbatuba Bay, S-E Brazilian Coast, and how thepopulation recovers from monthly harvests. Dry monthlyyield ranged from 4.9 to 201.2 g m^-2 and showedno obvious seasonal pattern. The mean recovery rateafter harvesting is estimated as 35 days, and thestanding stock in the Bay (1.5 km) is approximately3.68 t y^-1 dry wt.