Gap register

What is missing, and who could close it

Each entry names what exists today, what is absent, and the body positioned to fix it. Kept as a register so progress is legible rather than asserted.

StandardsCritical

No seed certification standard exists

Today: California registers aquaculture operations and regulates what may be cultivated, but nothing defines what makes seaweed seed fit to sell or plant.
The gap: There is no standard, no certificate, and no list a grower or an agency can check before seed moves.
Who could close it: A voluntary standard published by California Sea Grant with a standing working group, later adopted by reference in agency guidance.

BiosecurityCritical

No pathogen or pest screening requirement for seaweed seed

Today: Shellfish seed movement triggers documented health inspection. Seaweed seed moves without an equivalent screen.
The gap: No listed pathogens, no required inspection point, no method, and no laboratory designated to run it.
Who could close it: CDFW, with a technical annex developed by academic pathologists and hatchery operators.

GeneticsHigh

Provenance and genetics are undocumented

Today: Broodstock origin is typically known to the hatchery and communicated informally, if at all.
The gap: No sourcing-distance rule, no minimum number of parents, no requirement to record region of origin per line.
Who could close it: A sourcing guidance document from the working group, referencing existing state genetics guidance elsewhere on the coast.

AuthorityHigh

Movement of live seaweed seed is unclear in practice

Today: Live aquatic organism import and transport authority exists, but its application to gametophyte cultures and seeded twine is not spelled out for operators.
The gap: Operators cannot tell from published material what paperwork, if any, a seed shipment needs — within the state or across a state line.
Who could close it: Plain-language agency guidance naming the seed forms and the required steps.

CapacityModerate

Testing and diagnostic capacity is thin

Today: Seaweed disease diagnostics sit with a small number of academic labs, not a service network with turnaround commitments.
The gap: Even a well-written screening requirement would have nowhere to send samples at scale.
Who could close it: Sea Grant and university partners funding a designated diagnostic pathway with published methods and turnaround.

BiosecurityHigh

Hatchery biosecurity practice is uneven and unpublished

Today: Good operators run careful hatcheries. Nothing requires it or records it.
The gap: No baseline plan template, no inspection, no way for a buyer to compare two sources.
Who could close it: Tier 3 of the draft standard plus a published plan template operators can adopt.

InformationModerate

Nobody can see what seed is actually available

Today: Growers find seed by asking around. Availability shifts by species and season and is never written down in one place.
The gap: No public inventory, so demand is invisible to funders and agencies and planning is guesswork.
Who could close it: The availability matrix on this site, maintained by seed sources themselves through the hub.

StandardsModerate

Restoration and commercial seed are treated as one thing

Today: Kelp restoration projects and commercial farms both need seed, under different risk tolerances and different permits.
The gap: No differentiated expectations, so a rule tight enough for commerce can accidentally block restoration, and vice versa.
Who could close it: Separate use-case annexes under one standard.

Disagree with an entry?

If an agency already has authority we have listed as absent, that is exactly the correction worth making. Send the citation and we will amend the register and date the change.

See the pathway