Seaweed body asks BFAR to stop making dried chips

The Seaweed Industry Association in the Philippines (SIAP) is calling the attention of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to stop producing dried seaweed chips because there is no demand for such product.

SIAP president Benson U. Dakay in a press conference said that there is no demand right now for dried seaweed chips however, he said, BFAR should focus on increasing the supply of raw seaweed produced in the country.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided a grant of P20 million for the establishment of dried seaweed chips processing plant in Sorsogon. Dakay said this investment will just go to waste.

According to Dakay, the government operated plant in Cabid-an, Sorgoson has no use for the seaweed exporters at all since the plant produces products that are of low quality.

The Sorsogon plant is the pilot undertaking of the Seaweeds Development Project in Region 5, which was funded from the P20.23 million loan granted by the ADB to the government.

Dakay said the seaweed processors and exporters are now suffering from lack of supply from the seaweed farmers in the Philippines, pushing them to import raw and dried seaweeds from other countries, like Vietnam.

About four years ago, SIAP and other government agencies, like Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), sealed an agreement for the design and implementation of National Integrated Seaweed and Seaweed Products Development and Promotion Program.

The ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was graced by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who personally mandated these agencies to help boost the seaweed industry in the Philippines.

The program aims to address all the needs and concerns of the seaweed industry to maintain the country's position as the primary supplier of seaweed products in the world market, also, increasing the employment and income of all sectors of the industry.

Dakay, who owns Shemberg Marketing Corporation (SMC), now the world's largest supplier of semi-processed and refined carrageenan, said that the Philippines seaweed industry has been hit by the supply shortage of raw seaweeds, significantly the Eucheuma cottoni species.

This problem, fueled by the strengthening of the Philippine peso has threatened the industry to take advantage of its potential to capture the multi-million dollar carrageenan market in the world.

The Eucheuma cottoni species is the raw material for carrageenan (processed seaweed), which is used as a gelling agent for meat, chocolate, ice cream and other food-based applications.

Dakay hopes that the government especially those involved in the implementation of the National Integrated Seaweed and Seaweed Products development program will fully re-commit in helping the seaweed industry in the country.