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MAPPING AND MONITORING KELP RESOURCES IN MEXICO 
by 
S G. ARREDONDO x 
and 
A.R. CAMARA 
* Direccion General de Geografia del 
Territorio Nacional 
Departamento de Teledeteccion 
San Antonio Abad 7 124 ler Piso 
COL. Tranisto 
Delegacion Venustiano Carranza 
Mexico DF 06820 
MEXIQUE 
Kelp is a brown seaweed of the species - 
Macrocystis pyrifera. It occurs in Mexico, where it - 
thrives as a fast-growing plant, forming dense beds nutured 
by cold, nutrient bearing currents along the west coast of 
the Baja California Peninsula. 
Kelp is a marketable resource for the ex- 
tractives industry. Algin is the most important substance 
extracted from Kelp. It is used as an emulsifier, to bind 
water with oily fluids. A percentage is also used for - 
human consumption, In Mexico, the 1979-1980 gross sales - 
of raw Kelp were in the order of one million dollars. 
Management responsibility for Kelp beds - 
falls on the Ministry of Fisheries, which is in charge of 
monitoring Kelp harvesting and collecting information on 
the distribution, abundance and condition of the resource. 
729