Introduction
Green seaweeds from the genus Caulerpa, particularly C. lentillifera and C. racemosa
varieties, are consumed throughout the Pacific, where there is increasing pressure to
address sustainability of harvest and rising market prices for domestic production (South
1993, Ostraff 2006). To date, commercial aquaculture production exists only for C. lentillifera
(see Horstmann1983, Paul & de Nys 2008, Saito et al. 2010) which is also traded
internationally (from the Philippines and Vietnam into Japan). However, the potential for
aquaculture production of the numerous other varieties of Caulerpa sea grapes throughout
the Pacific have rarely been evaluated (Paul & de Nys 2008), and never using high density,
large‐scale systems to enhance vegetative propagation of the biomass. The development of
a practical commercial system for sea grape aquaculture will also enable control of the
production cycle, both of biomass production and product quality. For example, productivity
can be manipulated to enhance vertical growth of the shoots (or fronds) in high density
cultivation, and, at the same time, influence the shape and texture of these fronds (Paul &
de Nys 2008).