Just recently, we went on a trip to Misima Island in the Milne Bay Province. The purpose of our visit there was to see the seaweed farmers of Kumuta and Bagaman islands because they were having problems with their seaweed farms. For some unknown reasons, seaweed seedling form those areas are not growing outward but inward with bulbing at the tip.
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| Inward growth of seaweed seedling on the frame lines at Kimuta island, Misima, Milne Bay Province. Papua New Guinea
Due to shorter timing of our visit and delay in accessing resources, we only mange to visit Kumuta. It was rather unfortunate we could not got to Bagaman, Brooker, Motorina, Paneati and others in the "Deboyne and Clavados Chain". Despite this, we manage to see a litle to know that the basic fundamentals of seaweed farming wasn't there in those communities. At Kimuta, the farmers are not paying close attention
to their farms albeit, height of interest in the community. There were evidences of algal growth on frame lines, indicating lack of timely maintenance. This
could be because seaweed farming is new to them however, from our observation,
this problem is almost benign and there appears a greater lack of technical
advice and ‘show how’ by seaweed aquaculture officers towards the farmers in the Province. The farmers there are very pragmatic-learning by seeing and should
they been guided well in the beginning, they surely will have developed that trait. Speaking to the farmers, we get the impression that there is inadequate
technical training and support to the farmers. The farmers admitted to briefly
being provided hands on training however, closer support for and greater
guidance during actual planting and implementation wasn’t there. This
highlights a very important need for greater extension work and closer
coordination by seaweed aquaculture officers from both within the province and
NFA in working with the farmers.
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The bigger problem very noticeable out there is that
farmers are placing their farms against the current (flowing water) instead of
running it in parallel, thereby allowing greater movement and force exerted on the
seaweed lines consequently affecting growth. The method employed is also not
suited for current areas, as the frame lines are placed criss-crossed, like
long line rafts, providing yet greater surface area of exposure to the
currents, adding more pressure on the overall farming infrastructure.
Additionally, the loop material used for “tie tie” (called macramé) is not
suited for current areas as it tangles a lot and even worse, it gets weaker and
breaks off easily. Not really good when the seedlings grow bigger. We even
notice the tying of ‘tie tie’ to the frame lines are not done properly as the
farmers just spin and do a slip knot of the ‘tie tie’ with the seedling attaché onto
the main frame line and that is it- Leave it to the sea and the faith of having
it intact throughout growth.
In the long term, such method/practise could become
costly, with the unnecessary use of rope infrastructure providing greater
surface area of exposure to currents and that which could become broken,
tangled, and lost to the ocean by current? Having more materials in the sea
would mean more effort in maintenance and costs of material.
The second bigger problem however, is that most
farmers are planting inadequate seedling sizes. This we don’t suppose is due to
lack of availability of seedlings but rather blame it on inadequate knowledge
of the required stocking size for the specie. Kappaphycus or Euchema cottoni
requires about a 100g or more of seeding size for better health and growth.
Anything less than that would only act to prolong maturity, subsequently affecting
harvests. In addition, making too many cuts on a tiny seedling only renders it
prone to diseases and can attract growth distortions from various factors in
the environment acting on the farms.
Thirdly, and that which is quite visible too is that farming
infrastructures of ropes, lines, and stakes are not intact but loosely held
together which is not very helpful in high current areas such as Kimuta.
While the current is good for natural maintenance and greater growth of
seaweed, it would not help if you have loosely held infrastructure in the water
as this will only aid and abide the force of currents acting on the
farms-providing yet more movement to the seedlings. It is very important to
have the frame lines and ropes tightly intact with greater anchorage at the
bottom.
It was also observed that several farms on the island
have developed growth distortions to the crops. The seedlings are growing
inward instead of spreading out. Speaking to the locals,we can confidently assert however, that seedling brought in to Kumuta were taken from an infected pool of
seaweed from other islands which have already developed bulbing tips, and that
which are only now recirculated-, cut, farmed and transferred for further extension. Distribution of such seedlings would continue the problem if not
removed. It would be better to kill all those infected seedlings and
re-introduce better quality seedlings for farming. We also noticed greater growth of
some seedlings on a few of those farms on the island that are doing really well
without any sign of infection and this could be used- be cut and distributed to
other farmers on the island.
In terms of environment, and from our pre-assessment of
the site, we must admit, Kimuta has some very impressive lagoon and habitat
highly favorable for seaweed farming. The vast sandy channel and water quality
and depth at this island is very promising for the prospect of commercial scale
mariculture. The fact that seaweed has grown on the island is a confirmation of
the environment, however, getting the basics right from the start is still a
challenge. More importantly, having knowledge of the locational and
meteorological characteristics of the site of farming is vital as this would be
the baseline to inform a whole lot of other farming aspect. For example,
determining what method employable, including the practise, handling, and
greater maintenance of the farms - all of which will depend on the farmers’
greater understanding of the environmental and climatic/weather conditions of
the site.
Overall, getting the basics right- in terms of the
practice and technical aspect of seaweed farming dealing with the environment
and climatic conditions should form the basis for further capacity building at
the local scale. This is important as future interests and viability will
depend on how much of the information is available to the general
populace. An immediate objective would be for fisheries officers to
conduct more extension and collaborate closely with the farmers so that
important knowledge and skills are imparted to the farmers in developing their
capacity at the farming level.
Seaweed has proven to be a promising source of income
to the islanders since it started. Several exports have been done and farming
has continued. The operation just needs to be revisited with emphasis to put on production of volume
and sourcing market. For logistics wise, Milne Bay, unlike other provinces,
there are regular transport of cargos and goods by small ships to outer stations such as
Misima and others, which the seaweed project could utilise in terms of providing
the back load on returning to Alotau. Speaking to local shop owners at Misima,
ships comes in 3 times in a week to unload cargo, however, there is no back
load for the ships returning to Alotau. If any at all, the ships would be
ferrying passengers and empty fuel drums on their return lag most of
time. This is a very good opportunity for seaweed farmers to utilise.
There is also the option by airplane with PNG airlines landing their plane- few
times a week, including that of charters out of Misima.
In the end, we recommended to the Milne Bay Division of Fisheries and Marine Resource to take note of the following:
Solution working forward- in other words conducting survey of the
environmental and physiographical characteristics at each site (islands) prior
to establishing seaweed is a first step forward. An immediate objective would
be for them to conduct an extension program to the islands already involved or are just
beginning to engage in farming to ensure farming is done correctly. Such
programs should target building capacity at the local scale by way of
conducting hands on training, handling, maintenance etc., with greater
information awareness on environment and weather conditions that will affect
farming.
Crop security-
the current period where the buying has stopped and farmers losing interest is
perhaps the most challenging period as this would not only affects farming
effort but rather on the greater security of the crop in the water. the seaweed crop in culture is
non-native to PNG and so it is highly susceptible
to the slightest of the changes in the environment. Farmers neglecting their
farms only lead to the crops out growing its vitality and die out. It
will be expensive to re-introduce the crops among other challenges that might
come up as a consequence. The immediate future challenge for seaweed
cultivation in the province (or country as a whole) would involve
establishment of ‘local’ breeding and production management centres to reduce
the dependency on importation and the development of diagnostic technology to
detect disease/nonindigenous pests together with pathway management,
contingency planning and capacity building at both institutional and farm
level, to manage an outbreak, or loss to natural disasters should one arise.
Change of buying practise- The practise in Alotau is such that the farmers are
not given greater leverage but are beholden to the operator for the provision
of seed stock and farming equipment, considerably reducing their
price-negotiating power. In fact farmers are paid on wages and not by the
volume they generate. This has proven to not work out thus far, and the current
feud with the operator over purchases and price has dramatically affected the
operation in Milne Bay. There should be an intervention by the provincial
government and NFA to provide better financing schemes to the seaweed farmers
to fund their capital investments, which would allow them more independence in
their negotiations with the buyers.
Securing market and a genuine operator- Current purchases by seaweed operator in the
province have slowed due to unknown reasons but one that we can only speculate as we
did not get the opportunity to meet with them, In the meanwhile, the Provincial
Government would do well to work with NFA to find alternative market and buyer
for seaweed products not only for Milne bay but inconsideration of other
provinces as well. A shadow language here in Milne bay is that the current
buyer operates almost remotely in their own terms which, is not good for the
growth of this industry. If a private partnership should be fostered, it should
be one that shows some responsibility and obligation for the greater growth and
development of this industry in the country and one way to do this is to tie
them own in their licensing condition. An immediate consideration would
be to orchestrate a buying situation similar to Bougainville whereby the AGB
government has established a business arm that buys seaweed and does the
exports. In that way, the revenue generated is channelled back to growth of
seaweed operation for the province.
Production of Volume- While major farms at Ware and other islands where
seaweed farming initially started have gone down following their feud with the
operator; this has not stopped many other outer islands to continue farming. In
fact, a new wave of farming has occurred –this time the lousaide group of
islands with many of the farms in their nursery stages. This could be an
indication that the seaweed farming has had an impact and its success stories
now spreading. While this is good for the growth of the industry and for volume,
it should note however, that some of the newer sites going into seaweed farming
are quite remote and logistically disadvantaged. The farmers need to consider
costs involved, in terms of shipping before they can go into farming. Despite
this seaweed is here to stay and it needs the planners or mangers
involved to be become proactive in their thinking. The way we see it, the atolls
and outer islands of Milne Bay need to generate the volume in order for this
venture to be economically feasible. At the moment, they’re asking for
market but there’s no volume… eventually, farmers effort must also be
complimented with regular buying to keep the activities going and hence, the
marketing component that also needs attention..
