Top Gelidium Seaweeds Fishing Countries

Gelidium is not a fish, but rather a genus of red seaweeds highly prized for their use in producing agar, a gelatinous substance widely used in food, pharmaceuticals, and microbiology. The global Gelidium seaweed industry is concentrated in a few countries with suitable coastal environments. Spain, particularly the Galicia region, has long been a leading harvester of wild Gelidium, supplying much of the world’s high-quality agar. Japan is another top producer, with a long tradition of both harvesting wild Gelidium and cultivating it for agar extraction. Other significant contributors include Portugal, Morocco, South Korea, and Chile, each leveraging their coastal resources and established seaweed industries. The Gelidium fishery is generally small-scale and labor-intensive, with sustainability concerns due to overharvesting and habitat degradation in some regions. These countries play a crucial role in meeting the global demand for agar, making Gelidium harvesting an important niche in the marine resources sector.

Data from FAO. 2025. Global Capture Production. In: Fisheries and Aquaculture.