UNLOCKING the economic potential of seaweed and sea grapes for villagers in coastal and maritime areas was the focus of a two-day workshop in Nadi, which ended on Tuesday.
Organised by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and University of the Sunshine Coast, representatives from various government departments and stakeholders in the fisheries sector participated in the forum at the Tanoa International Hotel.
Project leader Dr Nicholas Paul from the University of the Sunshine Coast said the project was run in three countries — Fiji, Kiribati and Samoa.
“In Fiji we had three objectives, the first was in relation to the red seaweed known as Kappaphycus — that people have grown a lot of,” he said.
“The second objective was looking at nama — so all aspects of the current supply chain and how it is fished. The third objective looked at nama and red seaweed in terms of value adding and new things in terms of health and nutrients and also in agriculture.”
Dr Paul said projects were established on Naviti Island in the Yasawa Group for nama and red seaweed.
“The red seaweed has a lot of economic potential because it is grown and dried and shipped overseas for export.
“It is lucrative, it is a reasonably simple set-up in terms of its fast growth, we can culture cycles in two months.
“So for a farmer if they can seed their lines, they can harvest and sell directly after only two months, which is much faster than copra.”
