An improved strain of the red seaweed Porphyra suborbiculata containing an increased amount of the essential amino acid L-lysine was obtained through mutation and analog enrichment. Mutagenesis using a 10% lethal dose of ultraviolet irradiation and an enrichment culture with the L-lysine analog aminoethyl-L-cysteine (AEC) was repeated to select the most productive strain using monospores of P. suborbiculata. The concentrations of AEC required to produce 50 and 100% inhibition of survival were 60 and 115 mM in the parent strain, and 72 and 135 mM in the selected AEC-resistant strain, respectively. The AEC-resistant strain, L130, produced 1.74-fold more lysine compared to its parent strain. Thus, mutagenesis with analog enrichment shows promise for selecting seaweed strains that can overproduce this essential amino acid.