Aquaculture is still in early development in Madagascar and Tanzania, while in Indonesia, aquaculture has a long history. In Madagascar, villagers are farming seaweed and sea cucumbers, as part of small-scale community-based aquaculture (CBA). They followed a contractual model between a private farming company and farmers. Local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and public institutions in Madagascar jointly strive to reverse the trend of ongoing anthropogenic coastal degradation. In Tanzania, the cultivation of red seaweeds has been established for over 30 years, with declining production attributed to climate change. While shrimp farming still involves, to some extent, clearing of mangroves in Tanzania, seaweed culture has only mild impact on coastal ecosystems. Farming areas provide shelter and habitat for juvenile fish, crabs and other organisms. Therefore, NGOs ask for support to improve culture methods. Various problems and shortcomings in Indonesia have been clearly identified, including issues related to new aquaculture areas, pollutants, emerging diseases, insufficient broodstock and fry supply, as well as a lack of technology and manpower. To address these challenges and ensure the growth of aquaculture production, the government has implemented national policies and established training and broodstock centers throughout the country. In Madagascar, the CBA programme stands out as a success story and can serve as a template for other coastal regions and countries. In Tanzania, the adoption of CBA model for co-culture could be the future. In Indonesia, due to a very long coastlines and complicated legislation, IMTA seems to be particularly suitable, as successfully tested in model regions.
Seaweeds form the second largest global aquaculture product in volume, and despite rapid growth of the sector over the last 25 years, production and quality in top producing regions is becoming increasingly limited due to disease and pest outbreaks, the spread of non-native cultivars and the degradation of genetic health due to inbreeding. Most notably, the lack of biosecurity measures leading to disease and pest outbreaks are reported to cause the most significant production losses in the seaweed industry. This study uses the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) survey tool to quantify and compare biosecurity cross-culturally, in two major red seaweed producing countries, the Philippines and Tanzania. Both countries have significantly different political contexts and the seaweed sector sits within two very different value chains. Seaweed-based commodities from these countries, however, enters the same international market for carrageenan, a thickening agent used for a variety of products globally. This study uses the KAP survey tool to assess currently-adopted biosecurity control measures and understand how potential policy strategies could be developed on an international scale. Farmers from both producing countries have good biosecurity knowledge. In Tanzania 64% farmers scored Fair or Good, and in the Philippines this was 95%. Corresponding scores in practices were lower, 85% Poor for Tanzania, and 88% Fair for the Philippines, indicating there is a lack of resources for farmers to implement additional practices. The information gathered using the KAP tool in the context of the global seaweed industry can be used to facilitate compromise between science, policy and practice whilst taking into consideration smaller-scale regional challenges. Given the results from the seaweed industry were similar to that of smallholder agricultural sectors, it is suggested that governmental programs to incentivise biosecurity in smallholder rural agriculture could be adapted for the seaweed industry. This study also demonstrates the potential use of the KAP survey, as a tool to accurately compare biosecurity challenges faced by farmers in different aquaculture sectors globally, and to encourage alignment in international approaches to aquaculture biosecurity policies.
The rapid expansion and globalization of the seaweed production industry, combined with rising seawater temperatures and coastal eutrophication, has led to an increase in infectious diseases and pest outbreaks. Here, we propose a novel Progressive Management Pathway for improving Seaweed Biosecurity.