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HOPE GROWS OUT OF SEAWEEDS IN COASTAL VILLAGES
 

The Philippines' marine grounds are a huge storehouse of nature's treasures. The archipelago's 17,400-kilometer combined coastline is strewn with riches as colorful as the peoples and cultures that make up a nation of 77 million.

Life in many coastal villages is woven into the seascape, from fishing, transportation, and inter-island trade. Generations rolled along with the relentless waves that brought what seemed like infinite marine resources.

Yet even the high seas get sparing with its wealth when treated unfairly.

Fish production is dipping annually since the previous decade. Numerous studies by Filipino marine scientists traced the decline to man-made factors. Debates have long shifted on how to contain the damage and regenerate diminishing fish stock.

Meanwhile, alternatives to fishing had to be explored. Seaweed provided one of the more promising options. In fact, seaweed has loads of profitable possibilities.

The seaweed industry accounted for a big chunk of 68% (652,680 metric tons) of the country's total aquaculture output (959,484 MT), and 23% of total fisheries production (2.79 million MT) in 1998, the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development, an agency of the Department of Science and Technology in a study showed.

Export-bound seaweed was valued at P2.51 billion, a strong third among top 10 fishery exports in the same year. Processors needed 102,000 MT of seaweed in 1999.

In 1995, the Philippines ranked fourth world's biggest seaweed and other aquatic plant producer accounting for 6% of the 7.81 million MT total world production, PCAMRD added.

The three seaweed species that are widely farmed mostly in southern Philippines are Kappaphycus, Eucheuma, and Gracilaria, which are sources of natural gum extract called carrageenan.

Small-scale seaweed farmers in Tawi-tawi, Jolo, and Zamboanga produce as much as 80% of the country's seaweed supply. The 20% balance is spread among seaweed farmers in parts of Central Visayas, Palawan, and Batangas.

The PCAMRD study estimates that over 40,000 depend directly or indirectly on seaweed farming for livelihood.

Carrageenan has many uses. Scientists at DOST's Industrial Technology Development Institute for example developed carrageenan capsule that substitutes for gelatine capsule.

ITDI's carrageenan capsule comes from the Eucheuma species. It is also an ideal container for drug substances. "Carrageenan capsules are solid preparations with hard or soft shells of various shapes and capacities", ITDI's information packet said.

The capsule is non-toxic, non-allergenic, biodegradable, water soluble, and meets Safety of Life at Sea requirements, ITDI noted. PCAMRD researchers also developed seaweed-based products that are unique in variety and practical application. Some of the products are:

• Air freshener--provides clean and fresh floral scents for room, car, locker, or cabinet.

• Candy gel--gelatin-free fruit flavored jelly recommended for people on vegetarian diet.

• Pastilles--gelatin-free gummy throat-soothing pastille with ginger mix that is comparable to imported counterparts.

• Menthol ointment--contains active ingredients such as camphor and menthol that soothes the body. As alternative to hydrocarbon based ointment, carrageenan-based ointment minimizes or prevents allergic reactions.

• Suppository base--uses carrageenan as emulsifier/binder in place of gelatin and requires little refrigeration to retain molded shape. While it is comparable to gelatin suppositories, carrageenan based suppository does not melt easily even at room temperature.

• Liquid soap/shampoo base--environment-friendly prepared in alcohol and biodegradable surface active agent.

• Instant gum paste--modelling paste or icing formulation that incorporates alginate to produce flexible icing by adding water.

• Fertilizer--polysaccharides extraction by-product or water extract from seaweed that contains growth-promoting hormones and fortified with N, P, and K.

• Egg coating--provides additional barrier against moisture, gases, and microbial penetration to prolong shelf life.

• Clear decorating gel--a piping jelly that incorporates carrageenan to produce clear icing for cakes.

• Low calorie jelly--fruit-flavored spread that contains aspartame and carrageenan as substitutes to sugar and pectin.

On top of these, Kappaphycus alvarezii might be used to weed out heavy metals that pollute wide swathe of marine waters. Mercury, cadmium, lead, and zinc are the leading pollutants as a result of oil spillage, irresponsible industrial waste discharge, and cyanide fishing. PCAMRD cited the study on pollution control using the red seaweed of a research team led by Dr. Marco Nemesio Montano at the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute.

The study involved a 10-day "chronic static toxicity test to assess the effects of heavy metals" on seaweed's chlorophyll.

"Results indicated that K. alvarezii has a relatively high tolerance to cyanide". This is consistent with previous discoveries that "most algae are highly resistant to cyanide", PCAMRD said.

Meanwhile, the quality of local seaweed seedstocks was noted to have been deteriorating since 1998. This endangers the competitiveness of Philippine seaweed in global market, PCAMRD Executive Director Rafael Guerrero has said.

PCAMRD studies traced the deterioration to "almost three decades of continuous vegetative propagation, environmental degradation, shortage in quality seedlings, and occurrence of diseases". These factors pulled down yield, quality and overall productivity of seaweed farms.

Along with the UN Development Program, PCAMRD initiated a project to stop the deterioration through direct intervention. This means the development of better quality seedstock for distribution to farmers.

The project also covered training of biologists, acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment, establishment of seedling banks that store different cultivars, seedstock production training for farmers, and strengthening of farmers' organization and business partnership with processors.

Among others, the project's highlights are research-intensive strain selection that involves "collection and transplantation of different seaweed cultivars or groups and comparative assessment of performance" like growth and carrageenan yield in various farming areas.

Production of seaweed hybrids "without the need for sexual compatibility" was planned with a process called "protoplast fusion". Training in protoplast fusion technology makes use of Enteromorpha and Gracilaria species.

The operationalization and management of the seedling banks was hammered out during a workshop in Cebu City in March 1999, which was consequently assessed by the UN Volunteer for refinement. Inputs on site-specific technology transfer strategies were drawn from the US Aid for International Development-Growth for Equity in Mindanao, Holy Child Multi-Purpose Cooperative based in Bato, Leyte, local government units in Bohol, Leyte, and Tawi-tawi, and a farmers' group in Calatagan.

The seedling/gene banks at UP-MSI and the private corporation Marine Colloid Philippines Inc. in Cebu hold 15 cultivars mainly from Tawi-tawi (8), Bohol (6), and Gracilaria (1).

Studies conducted in these sites over three culture or cropping periods showed that "dramatic result was obtained in Calatagan (Batangas) where the Sacol-Bohol cultivar (from Bohol) had the highest growth at 330% biomass increase compared to local cultivar", the PCAMRD reported.

The same Bohol cultivar produced the highest carrageenan yield at about 44% of dry weight or 7% better than produced by local cultivar. PCAMRD credited the hardy Bohol cultivar in saving the Calatagan seaweed farming industry from crashing following the disastrous outbreak of "ice-ice" disease in late 1998 that nearly wiped out the local cultivar.

In Tawi-tawi's Sitangkai area, Eucheuma showed consistent biomass increase of between 800 to 1000 grams in a two-month culture period, outperforming Kappaphycus that never topped 600 grams. But prices and demand for Kappaphycus are higher than Eucheuma. Scientists suspect El Niño might have caused the poor growth of Kappaphycus.

In Bohol, Eucheuma also grows faster than all Kappaphycus cultivars except the widely farmed Kappaphycus Sacol-Bohol kind that showed similar performance.

Results of the strain selection program in the three sites will form part of a manual intended for reference of farmers to ease technology transfer. Details on laboratory culture in the manual are also designed for potential seedstock providers.

PCAMRD noted that carrageenan contains different properties for different industrial applications. This makes it "not possible to identify superior cultivars on the basis of differences in carrageenan characteristics". But such differences actually provide processors with options to develop a wider range of carrageenan-based products.

Arguably, the project scored one of the biggest gains in pioneering the generation of DNA fingerprints of 14 Kappaphycus and Eucheuma cultivars through a process called Rapid Amplified Polymorphic DND, which enables genetic identification and characterization of seaweed.

In all, the marine scientists commitment to heal an ailing seaweed industry mixed with the seaweed farmers' faith in the curative power of scientific intervention conspired for a mutually enriching partnership. (Science and Technology Media Service,DOST)