Zamboanga stakes claim as RP’s top seaweed producer

In the face of declining seaweed harvests in the country’s traditional major seaweed production centers, the regional office of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Region IX has taken bold steps to intensify seaweed culture in the whole Zamboanga Peninsula. “The objectives,” says BFAR Region IX director Virgilio Alforque, “are to help stabilize seaweed supply in the country, enable seaweed processors to operate at higher capacity and, most importantly, make it possible for Zamboanga’s seaweed farmers to take advantage of prevailing high prices.” Fortunately, a new research by SEAFDEC researchers Anicia Hurtado and Renato Agbayani has shown that deep water (more than 10 meters deep) farming of the seaweeds Kappaphycus is possible and very profitable just like the other methods in shallower waters. This method in deeper waters is commonly called alul.