With the notable scarcity of Chondrus crispus on the Portuguese coast, and interest in exploiting compounds such as carrageenan, this study focuses on investigating different aquaculture methods and recording the yield of carrageenan from specimens grown by different methods. We compare the growth of Chondrus crispus in aquaculture using Free Floating, Cages, Attempted Fixation on Rock, and Fixed Line similar to Long Line. The best method was Free Floating where Nursery 0 had a 24-day Specific Growth Rate (SGR) of 2.08 ± 0.47%/day. The worst method in terms of growth was Nursery 2 (Attempted Fixation on Rock) where the SGR at 28 days was 0.33 ± 0.69%/day, and no fixation was observed. In terms of carrageenan extraction, all culture methods gave rise to biomass that had a lower extraction yield than wild specimens, at 50.95 ± 4.10%. However, the Free-Floating method from Nursery 1 showed an acceptable carrageenan content (31.43 ± 7.00%). Therefore, we demonstrate that the concept of C. crispus cultivation may be key to promoting the sustainability and stability of this species.

Wind-driven surface processes are a major source of underwater ambient sound and are therefore an important component of coastal soundscapes. Yet their frequency-dependent expression in shallow nearshore reef environments remains insufficiently characterized from field observations. This study investigates low-to-mid-frequency (20–1000 Hz) ambient acoustic variability at Faro’s natural reef (southern Portugal) using short-term passive acoustic monitoring combined with concurrent sea state measurements. The results show evidence of a relationship between frequency-dependent acoustic response and wind-driven surface processes. At frequencies of 20–100 Hz, ambient sound levels exhibit a weak relationship with wind-driven surface conditions, with elevated variability under low agitation. This is attributed to persistent background anthropogenic noise, particularly vessel traffic. In contrast, above 100 Hz, the ambient sound level increases consistently with wind-driven agitation, indicating that wind-driven surface processes dominate ambient sound in the 100–1000 Hz frequency range. Transient high-energy peaks increase in frequency and intensity with surface agitation, consistent with breaking-wave events, even though elevated background sound levels persist after peak removal. These findings demonstrate that wind-related ambient sound variability at Faro’s natural reef is robustly expressed above approximately 100 Hz. This highlights the importance of frequency-dependent interpretation in passive acoustic monitoring as a necessary baseline for assessing the nearshore reef environment’s influence on ambient sound levels and acoustic propagation under variable sea state conditions.