The southern coast of Tamil Nadu (Mandapam to Kanyakumari) supports luxuriant growth
of economic seaweeds. The entire indigenous phycocoUoid industry of the country gets the raw
material from this region and during the last two decades, due to indiscriminate harvesting, there
has been over-exploitation of the resource. The present paper deals with survey conducted in the
first sector from Tuticorin to Tiruchendur during December 1986—March 1987. In this study 58
species of marine algae were recorded of which 7 belong to Chlorophyta, 12 to Phaeophyta and 39
to Rhodophyta besides 3 species of seagrasses namely Cymodocea seiriilata, Halophila ovalis and //.
ovata within 650 sq. km area surveyed. The total standing crop of the seaweeds was estimated at 9,100
tonnes (wt.). The estimates for the dominant species are Dictyota maxima 530 t, Sargassum tenerrium
640 t, D. bartayresiana 8601, Selieria rebusta 2,0901 and Hypnea valemiae 2,4301. The seaweed potential
for commercial exploitation has been briefly discussed
