HANDBOOK ON EUCHEUMA SEAWEED (2024)

How much will it cost to start seaweed farming?

The amount of money necessary to start up a seaweedfarm, depends on the size you have in mind. We suggest youstart your farming activity with a small set-up. Just 320 or480 lines. After some practice, it will be up to you todecide whether or not to expand your business. To give you abetter idea of what you need to start your farm, in thefollowing Tables 1 and 2, are listed the materials necessaryto start a 320 and a 480 line seaweed farm and their costs.Some materials such as wooden posts or stakes, can be available to you at no cost if you decide to utilizemangrove or other bush timber, and obtain these yourself.

Table 1. List of the materials necessary to set-up aseaweed farm of 320 lines or 480 lines. The totalcost indicated, excludes the seaweed seednecessary to start farming.

The total expenses, as indicated in Table 1, can beignored if you use a simpler way to set your farm with eachline stretched between two stakes.

You can use only mangrove or other bush timber (about10 centimeter in diameter) and not the bigger posts aslisted in Table 1.

The lines will be simply fastened to the stakes withloops on each end. Nails and galvanized wire will becomeunnecessary.

Following are the essential materials and their costsnecessary for your simple farm as mentioned above.

Table 2. List of the essential materials necessary to set-upa seaweed farm of 320 lines or 480 lines in thesimplest way; one line-two stakes. The total costindicated, excludes the seaweed seed necessary tostart farming.

Table 3 lists the tools you need to start your farm.Once you have bought these necessary tools, they become yourasset and you can use them whenever you need either toexpand or do maintenance of your farm. You do not need tobuy new ones. Other materials such as posts or stakes,nails, raffia and ropes, will last for at least 1 year.

Table 3. List of the tools necessary to both start andcontinue working at your seaweed farm.

Who can help me to start and finance my seaweed farm?

The Fiji Government, through its various Ministries canhelp you a lot if you decide to start cultivating seaweed.The Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Primary Industrieshas staff based in numerous stations all over the countryready to come and see you. You can discuss with them yourproblems and they can suggest to you the best way toproceed. They can also help you to find some of thematerials you need to start your farm, and most important,they can give you seaweed seeds free or address you to theclosest seed supplier. They can give you technical adviceand put you in touch with the seaweed buyers. It is really agreat help. Do not hesitate to seek assistance from them.

If you do not know anybody from the Fisheries Divisionworking in your district, you can write to:

Director of Fisheries,
Fisheries Division,
P.O. BOX 358, Suva

Institutions such as the Fiji Development Bank, the NewZealand and Australian Embassies, United States Agency forInternational Development, have given in the past someassistance in terms of loans and grants to the Fiji seaweedfarmers. The assistance is given in terms of materials youneed (ropes, raffia, and in some cases small punts). Do notexpect to receive cash.

It is important to know, that the Fiji Development Bankmight help you with loans. They will require a deposit of33% of the total amount of money which you are asking for.In addition to that, you will be asked to pay 8% annualinterest to the bank. The Ministry of Rural Development, theProvincial Council, the Ministry for Fijian Affairs or theDistrict Officers, can also help you to some extent.

How can I organize my work at the farm?

The amount of effort you need to put into farmingseaweed, the number of people that you need to help you, andof course, the money you can earn from farming, depends onthe size of your farm.

A farm size of 320 or 480 lines set following the off-bottommethod, can be handled by one person.

Considering that seaweed can be harvested after 8weeks, it is practical to divide your farm into 8 blocks. Inthis way you will be able to plant and harvest one blockevery week.

For a 320 line farm, each block will consist of 40lines, whereas 60 lines are suggested for a 480 line farm.

Example of a off-bottom farm divided into 8 blocks.

If you decide to work 4 days per week, you can harvest10 to 15 lines per day, depending on the size of your farm.

In case you plan to expand your farm, say up to 800lines, two people will be sufficient to look after theplanting and harvesting operations. For a larger farm afamily of 4 to 5 members is recommended.

The diagram shown in the next page, outlines an exampleof work schedule that might fit your situation. Please notethat the proposed work schedule is designed for a newseaweed farmer. In this case you might start with 10 lines,as suggested, or more. However, if you already have forexample about 80 mature lines available, you can startdirectly to plant your 320-lines farm. In fact from onemature line of seaweed, you can obtain enough plantingmaterial for four new lines.

WORK SCHEDULE

If you can start your farm by planting 40 lines insteadof 10 lines, as suggested in the work schedule. After thefirst 8 weeks you will have sufficient seaweed to expandyour farm directly to 320 lines.

Here is a suggested weekly schedule based on 4-workingdays.

Of course, if you prefer to distribute your job overthe week, here is another suggested schedule that might fityour situation.

Both examples are based on the assumption that theweather remains good and there is plenty of sunshine to dryyour seaweed.

In an established farm where seaweed is cultivatedusing the floating method, one person can manage to plantand harvest 1 raft per day. Therefore, working on a four dayweek, you will be able to plant and harvest 4 rafts.

What should I do to maintain my farm?

To be a productive farmer, the seaweed farm should bewell attended. This means that you constantly visit andcheck your farm.

Seaweed needs to be kept clean. To do this, you canshake or raise the seaweed lines to remove any unwantedseaweeds and rubbish.

If you do not keep your seaweed clean, other seaweedswill take away the nutrients necessary for your plantsgrowth. As a result your plants will not grow very well.

To assure a better growth, it is advisable to removesilt or mud coating on the surface of the seaweed, byshaking the lines. The parts of the plants showing white andpink areas, should be removed and taken to the shore.

Detached lines should be fastened and lost plantsreplaced.

Slow growing strains should be harvested and replacedwith fast growing strains.

Fish grazers, especially the bottom and coral dwellingspecies, should be kept away or fished if possible.

Seaweed should be harvested as soon as it reaches itsharvesting size (6 to 8 weeks), and re-planted immediatelyfor a continuous harvesting and re-planting cycle. Do notleave your plants to over-grow as they will break and easilydrift away. Over matured plants are difficult to dry astheir branches are thicker.

Record keeping

To be able to successfully manage your farm, a recordkeeping system is an essential part of the management.

Such a record is the foundation for any business,especially in a farm, and through it, it is possible to findout if your activity is profitable. If so, you might thinkto expand your farm.

By getting into the habit of recording daily yourexpenditures and income, you can rapidly see if you aremaking or losing money in the seaweed business.

The record keeping will help you to see many otheraspects related to your activity such as how much fuel hasbeen consumed in a week, or during certain months of theyear you can obtain better harvests, etc.

The record book, should be filled every day. If it isleft to the end of the week, there are more chances thatsome payments or seaweed collected could be forgotten.

In the next page we suggest you a scheme to follow. Itis just an example.

How much I will earn from my seaweed farm?

This is probably the point in which you are interestedthe most. How much you can earn.

Farming seaweed is not considered a tough job. Itrequires, though, a constant effort. You cannot startcultivating and then abandon your farm for a while andexpect to see good harvests. Thus, it is necessary to workat last 4 days per week to earn sufficient money for you andyour family.

Based on the current selling price of $ 0.50 per kg ofdried seaweed, if you are engaged in a 320 line farm, youcan expect to earn about $ 60.00 per week. If you have abigger farm, let's say 480 line farm, you can earn up to $90.00 per week. This means $ 15.00 to $ 22.50 per each ofthe four working days. Not Bad!

You may be wondering how this is possible. Follow ourreasoning. From a 320-line farm, you can harvest 10 linesper day, which means that in a 4 day-week you can harvest 40lines. Each line will weigh about 30 kg, thus totalling1,200 kg of wet seaweed or 120 kg dry weight. If you sellyour seaweed at $ 0.50 per kg and you produce 120 kg perweek, then you can earn about $ 60.00. From a bigger farm of480 lines, you are expected to harvest 15 lines every day.In a 4-day week you can produce 180 kg of dried seaweedworth about $ 90.00.

Larger farms will earn you a higher income, but willalso require more effort, commitment and initial investment.You will also need more people to help you maintain thefarm, unless your wife and your kids work with you.