Seaweed Industry of the Philippines

Beginning, Evolution, Problems and Possible Solution

Oscar Delos Angeles Monzales
(Secretary General, SIAP 1998-2009 & in seaweed Industry since 1965)

I Beginning :

There are three classes of seaweed with high commercial value

naturally grown in the Philippines, namely; a) Gelidium; b)
Gracelaria; and c) Eucheuma. The first two produces agar while the
third produces carrageenan. As early as 1950s gelidium and
gracelaria business started. Fishermen gathered them in reefs and
other coastal areas in a wild grown variety, dry them and sold in the
market, locally and exports. Gracelaria later were cultured in ponds.
However, market of gracelaria was not that big because the quality is
lower than other producing countries. In 1965, European company
Genu Products Philippines, Inc. subsidiary of Copenhagen Pectin
Factory Ltd of Denmark, managed by Mr. Oscar Monzales and
American company Marine Colloids Philippines, Inc. subsidiary of
Marine Colloids, Inc. U.S>A. managed by Mr. Vicente Alvarez,
came to the Philippines looking for wild grown eucheuma. There are
two species of eucheuma, cottonii and spinosum. The first produces
kappa carrageenan and the second producesIota Carrageenan. Exports
of eucheuma started in late 1964 from a wild grown gathered by
fishermen, dried. The demand of eucheuma was high that resulted
into mass gathering without proper conservation. The biggest exports
happened in 1967, almost 3,000 metric tons a year/ and in 1971
reduced to 250 metric tons a year. With that development, European
and American companies together with academe and government
launched a research on increasing the supply of eucheuma thru
culture. It took them almost 3 years to successfully adopt seaweed
culture commercially after local fishermen developed their own
technology and discovered a new variety of eucheuma cottonii known
later as Kappaphycus Alvarezii or locally tambalang the name of local
fishermen who discovered the seaweed. This technology was adopted
by fishermen in Tawi-tawi and Zamboanga.

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II Evolution:

In 1972, production of eucheuma increased to 1,200 metric tons

a year from seaweed culture. The increase in production was credited
to private companies who financed fishermen put up their seaweed
farm and provided market. Development spread in Southern
Mindanao, Bohol and Leyte. In 1975, there was a tremendous
increase in production that leads to stop buying of seaweed. The
reason was, importers were used to a low capacity processing and
never expected that rate of increase in production. Importers
immediately increased their capacity and a matter of almost two
years, their demand increases that overstocked of dried seaweed in
1975-1976 were then bought by them. Prices of dried seaweed during
over production reached as low as P0,45 per kilo from the normal
price of P3.00-P5.00 per kilo.

Since seaweed farming expanded to other provinces that

increases seaweed production, prices has gone down and in 1978 a
company in Cebu, Shemberg Marketing Corporation with the help of
Japanese scientists, developed a semi-processing or value adding to
seaweed. to compete with Refined carrageenan produced by foreign
companies. The company was successful and other Philippine
exporters of raw dried seaweed followed through adopting the
technology that Shemberg developed. The semi-refined carrageenan
was used in petfood industry. More research in product development,
the Philippine Companies developed a semi-refined that can be used
for human food and other industrial application competing with the
refined carrageenan.

Since there was problem in the acceptance of Semi-Refined

Carrageenan to human food and industrial application because of
toxicity issue, the Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines
(SIAP) under the leadership of the late Mr. Benson U. Dakay,
President assisted by late Mr. Pete C. Borja, Public Affairs Director
and Mr. Oscar Monzales, Secretary General, in the Philippines and
Dr. Pete C. Bixler of the USA with the cooperation of government

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agencies like DOST, UP Marine Science, DTI and DA, has fought
with an international governing body to clear the toxicity of semi-
refined carrageenan and be used as foodgrade directly competing the
Refined Carrageenan. SIAP was successful in clearing sem-refined
carageenan that opened a big market for the product thus increasing
the demand of dried seaweed and increased prices for the benefits of
the farmer.

With the situation, more fishermen in other parts of the country

were encouraged to go into seaweed farming as a livelihood. Private
companies were financing farmers to develop their seaweed farms
whereby continuously increasing supply that in the year 2000 the
production in the Philippines reached as high as 115,000 metric tons.
This put the country as leader of seaweed and carrageenan production
in the whole world.

III Problems:

A- Quality of seaweed
B- Seaweed Production
C- Calamity
D- Importation of seaweed from other countries.

A. Quality of Seaweed:-

The Industry players have tried to maintain quality requirements

on raw dried seaweed. It must be, (1) matured at least 60 days
planting period for bottom method and 45 days for Floating method,
(2) Dried up to 38% moisture content, (3) Free from foreign materials
like sand, stone and other foreign materials, In the beginning while
more seaweed supply vis--vis demand, it was strictly imposed.
However, in the later, when demand of carrageenan was high and
production of seaweed is low, industry players instructed their buying
agents to buy more and grab every kilo of seaweed available. The
result was, (a) even wet seaweed above 45% moisture content is
bought from the farmers, (b) immature seaweed are harvested and the
worst thing is (c) farmers learned to put table salt to the seaweed

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when drying. From here, it has been the habits of farmers producing
bad quality and traders buying from them until no better quality were
available in the market for processing. This quality problems affected
carrageenan higher cost of production thru blending to reach the
required quality in the market thus resulted to higher prices of
carrageenan. With the entry of Indonesian processors and flooding the
market with more carrageenan, end users have to find alternative
source of gums at lower price. The result is, at present prices of
carrageenan has gone down, simply because the demand is low due to
quality problems and higher prices.

B. Seaweed Production

While the processors were financing farmers thru their traders,

production was steadily increasing. Much more that SIAP has its
Secretary General regularly inspecting areas of production and
monitoring problems that affect production. However, after such
private initiative monitoring of production problems in areas stopped,
production went down from almost 130,00 metric tons a year in 2008
to almost 50,000 metric tons at present. What makes this situation
happened?

1. Climate change affects growth of Kappaphycus alvarezii and

government program implements planting any variety to
grow all the time of the year resulted to low production and
low quality.
2. Exporting of seedlings kappaphycus to other countries helped
other countries to produce more thus greatly competing the
Philippines.
3. Less government supports to farmers during typhoons and
other changes in climate conditions to rehabilitate their farms.
4. No private sector representative monitoring and encouraging
people to engage more in seaweed farming.
5. Lack of alternative technology to bring back kappaphycus
seedlings back to the farmers to culture thus improving the
quality of seaweed.

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 6. Lack of initiative in rehabilitating old production areas that
are not producing and developing more areas with
appropriate technology.

C. Calamity

Areas in Visayas and Luzon are prune to typhoon and no

appropriate solutions in helping farmers immediate recover from
calamities. Even during summer or hot season where temperature of
water is high and kappaphycus growth is affected, the industry and
government lacks alternative technology to continuously plant
seaweed. Farmers are at mercy and helpless once calamities strike
their area.

D. Importation of Dried Seaweed

It is a known fact that the increase in seaweed production in

Indonesia has tremendously increased from more or less 50,000
metric tons in 2008 to more or less 140,000 metric tons lately. Sad to
say, that it is the other way around to what happeed to Philippine
seaweed production. This is because the government and private
sector focused in seaweed production. They were importing
Kappaphycus seedlings from the Philippines. Furthermore, cost of
living of Indonesian fishermen is lower than the
Philippines..Therefore, price of Indonesian seaweed is lower
compared to the Philippines. The wrong habit of farmers in the
Philippines that reduced seaweed quality makes Indonesian seaweed
more competitive.

The development of carrageenan processors in Indonesia

adopting Philippine processors technology was a big treat
competitively to Philippine Processors. Furthermore, China
carrageenan processors increased after they imported seaweed from
Indonesia at a lower price. And this is another treat to Philippine
processors.

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 In this situation, Philippine processors have to import seaweed
from Indonesia to stay competitive in the carrageenan market. They
also imported seaweed from Vietnam whose quality is good using
Kappaphycus Alvarezii seedlings from the Philippines.

What will happen to the seaweed industry in the Philippine after

having been considered once as the leader in seaweed and
carrageenan production? It can just be compared to other agricultural
products, wherein Philippine is the innovator of technology in
production and shared that technology to other Asean countries at the
end we are importing products from them.

IV Solution

There is a need to convene people from the seaweed industry,

those who have wide expertise and knowledge and government to
review the situation of the industry and come out doable solutions that
brings back the leadership of the Philippines in the seaweed industry.
It should be a real working conference not just talking.

OSCAR D. MONZALES
Cell No. 09155552098
Email: osmonz578@gmail.com