Diversification of Seaweed Industries in Pacific Island Countries

Seaweeds are produced for food and as industrial products throughout the Pacific and many communities rely on this production for significant portions of their income. This industry is diverse in the types of seaweeds produced, whether they are cultured or harvested from the coastline , the way that they are processed and in the final use of the seaweeds. However, the production of seaweed is fragmented across th e Pacific region, and the range of opportunities is not well understood and has rarely been evaluated. The overarching aim of this project was to diversify the activities and, correspondingly, the opportunities available to the seaweed industry in the Pacific Islands. The project conducted a diverse range of research for development activities relating to seaweed production and bioproduct evaluation in three partner countries (Fiji, Samoa and Kiribati) working with government fisheries departments, university researchers, community groups and the private sector. The first research objective of the project was t o improve production levels and post - harvest quality of carrageenan gel - producing red seaweed Kappaphycus in Fiji and Kiribati . During t he project , p artners identif ied bottlenecks in the production of this commodity seaweed , evaluated technical barriers for expansion of seaweed production into new communities and how to sustain these efforts, and conduct ed scientific analyses of the quality of the seaweed biomass produced with a view to understanding how the value of the seaweed can be maximised . This work include d activities such as environmental monitoring of the key production sites in each country, reporting on the volumes and value of seaweed in th e domestic supply chains, empirical investigations of growth of different seaweed strains and insights from the communities regarding the socio - economic importance of seaweed farming . In Fiji, 15 Kappaphycus production sites were studied across the Central, Western and Northern divisions, working with the Ministry of Fisheries and Forests and the University of the South Pacific . Through a concurrent effort by government, a number of farm clusters were established and communities were producing seaweed in 2014 ( 35 tonnes) and 2015 (3 9 tonnes), with the majority of production in the Yasawa Islands (70% of national volume). Environmental monitoring of key sites was not able to differentiate any effects of the main physical variables ( temperature, current speed, light levels, nutrients - nitrogen and phosphorus), nor any distinction in terms of the culture methods and drying techniques on production volume and quality . Our insights suggest that it is likely a combination of singular environmental events and human factors that contributed to variation in output, i ncluding that many sites were pre - selected that had previously been farming sites. This was confirmed by social studies that highlighted most of the current crop of farmers had farmed seaweed before, as well as other insights including that 2/3 of farmers were male, many were over 50 years old (30%), most conducted seaweed farming as a family activity (95%), and identified weather and transportation as the main barriers for production. National production i n Fiji was halted by Cyclone Winston in 2016 (one of the strongest cyclones to hit Fiji), and recovery has been slow (2016 - 4 tonnes; 2017 ~9 tonnes) . Data and analysis from project activities were submitted and presented to the Fijian government and shared through the National Seaweed Taskforce which included members of the project team . Efforts in Fiji continue for the export production of Kappaphycus , but farming remain s heavily dependent on government support and initiatives. In Kiribati, 4 Kappaphycus production sites were studied on 3 islands in the Gilbert Group (Tarawa, Aranuka and Abaiang) with project scientists from the Ministry of Fisheries & Marine Resources Development . Production of seaweed from Kiribati is primarily from Fanning Island, in the Line Islands, however dried seaweed is typically stockpiled by the Central Pacific Producers Ltd (CPPL) on Tarawa as the supply chain is broken and sales to Asian processors are sporadic. O n the capital Tarawa, seaweed farming had not occurred for many years and seaweed strains had to be sourced from other locations for project trials . These trials were run with two strains – one of the original Kappaphycus strains (collected from Fanning Island) and one of the new temperature - tolerant strain s (“ maumere ” ) imported by MFMRD from Indonesia . Cyclone Winston in 2016 led to significant wave damage to the coastline, including the study sites. Small seaweed farms have continued after the project with farmers affiliated with Fisheries continuing to produce, dry and sell to the CPPL company. The key findings for this objective mirrored in many ways those of Fijian efforts, which are a narrative of environmental challenges (storms, sedimentation of the seaweed, and high temperatures), supply chain challenges (intermittent buyers that question product quality) and issues around the value of seaweed farming for farmers, especially those on the outer islands with the competition from copra with its regulated prices. Kiribati Fisheries and the CPPL have developed a taskforce to address these concerns, focussing on the potential of short supply chains and local use of the seaweed product to diversify the end use away from export in the near term.