Abstract

In this study we analyze the economic feasibility of commercial cultivation of Sarcopeltis skottsbergii, a red seaweed endemic in southern Chile with commercial interest as a source of carrageenan. To this end, a dynamic bioeconomic model was built that comprises three submodels, namely, a biological, a technical, and an economic one. The cultivation was by using a method where they are hung in the sea, with juveniles attached to lines. The site is located in the Bay of Ancud, in the Los Lagos Region of southern Chile. The sensitivity analysis showed that cultivation is profitable for a private investor when the price and growth of the biomass are substantially higher than the parameters established for the baseline model. The results suggest that greater technological development is required to make a culture of this type profitable and, thus, reduce the extractive pressure that is currently exerted on natural habitats.