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The carageenophyte Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) Doty from the Philippines has been cultivated in the warm waters of Shikoku Is., Southern Japan since the 1990's. The cultivation method used for this study employed green and brown type fronds on floating ropes. Daily growth rates of green and brown type fronds, increased to 2-5 % in water temperature of 20-30 ℃. The growth rates increasedas water temperature increased. The biomass of the initial material increased by 30-40 times after one month under good cultivation conditions. The fronds below a depth of 2m were consumed by fish; more over, there were no clear differences in the growth rate at depth shallower than 2m.

The carrageenophyte Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) Doty from the Philippines was cultivated in the subtropical waters of Shikoku Is., Southern Japan (the warm water season extends from May to November). The cultivation method employed fronds fixed to floating ropes in the sea. Daily growth rates increased to 4−8% in water temperatures of 25−27℃. The initial material increased in mass by about ten times after one month under good cultivation conditions. During the period of cold waters, from December to April, the material was cultured in a outdoor tank flowing seawater which was regulated at 22℃. Daily growth rates ranged from 0.4-2.29% under these conditions and the initial weight of materials doubled over a two month period.