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La Niña event likely to affect seaweed farmers

BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO

THE La Niña season declared in Solomon Islands will most likely affect seaweed farmers.

Local seaweed farmers in Rarumana village, Western Province harvesting seaweed plots.

Enock Simba, one of the active seaweed farmers in Rarumana Western province in an interview said unstable weather hitting the country will greatly affect their crop.

He said this is because rainwater is the big enemy when it comes to drying seaweed. 

“Rain on seaweed lowers the quality and reduces the weight. Exposed seaweed during rain will lower the quality and decrease the weight and also seaweed will dissolve in freshwater,” said Simba.

He said the cyclone season expected in the coming months could certainly destroy their seaweed farms.

“During the cyclone season our seaweed plots are destroyed by strong currents. For us it is heartbreaking to see our seaweed gardens washed away by strong current as we have worked so hard to grow them on our farms. It is the only initiative we took to source income during this pandemic of covid-19,” said Simba

Seaweed drying method depends on good sunshine.

He said seaweed farming has supported him in generating income for his daily living. He said income from seaweed farming also helps locals pay school fees for their students during this pandemic.

“Seaweed farming was introduced to us in Rarumana 14 years ago and almost everyone in my village, ranging from children, youths and adults are engaged in seaweed farming”.

Wesley Garofe from the Ministries of Fisheries and Marine Resources said “seaweed like any other plant, requires acceptable environmental parameters that are conducive for its growth.

“Besides water movement and salinity, water temperature is crucially important. There are other varieties of the species being farmed (kappaphycus alvarezii) which can withstand higher water temperature to some extent but we are still working on formalities to introduce them into the country to enable farmers into tactical farming.”

 According to the Solomon Islands Seaweed Quality Manual, fresh water slows growth of seaweed and even kills seaweed. 

“Plant seaweed away from rivers, streams and areas near the beach where you can see fresh water coming out of the ground. Choose areas where there is good current or water movement. These bring food to the plants and help them grow healthy and fast. Healthy plants are the start of good-quality seaweed”, the manual highlighted.

“During the drying process, spread harvested seaweed evenly and thinly so that it can be easily turned. The more you turn it, the quicker it will dry if weather conditions are good. Usually purple, green and white with some salt crystals are signs of good quality,” the manual stated.

Seaweed known as (kappaphycusalvarezii) is a priority commodity in the country’s mariculture, under the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MRMR). It was introduced in the country in the early 2000s and targeted towards improving the livelihood of people living in coastal villages.  

Meanwhile Director of Met Services, David Hiba Hiriasia in an interview says a La Nina event can bring unstable weather to the Solomon Islands. He says La Niña can increase the presence of troughs and low pressure over the region. He says and increase in showers and thunderstorm activity is forecasted for most provinces across the country and people can expect unstable weather conditions. He says most troughs will bring cloudy conditions, showers, and a wind shift, particularly following the passage of the trough.

Female seaweed farmers in Rarumana removing algae from seaweed plots.

“We have declared La Niña conditions over the Pacific Region which means for most parts of Solomon Islands we will expect more wetter conditions and also be expecting cyclones from November 2020 to April 2021,” said Mr Hiriasia.

He said the La Niña period that is currently hitting the country will likely have vast and devastating impacts on some sectors of the country and people especially in terms of income generation.

Mr Hiriasia said the areas that would mostly feel the impacts of La Niña are those who settle near river banks as they would expect an increase in flooding, the agriculture sector these include those who involved in gardening and livestock, infrastructure developments especially  bridges , roads and wharfs, local fishermen who depend on finishing to earn a living and local seaweed farmers in the country who farm seaweed.