Investigation on the efficiency of a silicone antifouling coating in controlling the adhesion and germination of Ulva prolifera micro-propagules on rafts

Prevention of annual “green tides” caused by blooms of the green macroalga Ulva prolifera, which have occurred in the Yellow Sea since 2007, has received much attention. Increasing evidence indicates that micro-propagules on the rafts used for Porphyra yezoensis aquaculture along the coastline of Jiangsu Province in China, were the primary source of these green tides. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of a silicone antifouling coating for preventing the adhesion and germination of U. prolifera micro-propagules on bamboo and nylon ropes, which have been used in rafts for P. yezoensis aquaculture. Our results demonstrated that a coating of silicone (Sylgard 184) containing 1.0 wt.% sodium benzoate (NaB) could reduce the adhesion rate to <5% and completely inhibited the growth of U. prolifera propagules on the coated surfaces. Coating bamboo and nylon ropes with NaB-incorporated silicone thus proved a potentially effective method for controlling the initial biomass accumulation of U. prolifera.