Seaweed farming in atolls reaching new heights

SEAWEED farming in the Bougainville atolls have grown from strength to strength since it was introduced in 2012.
The seaweed project is gaining momentum in the atolls of Caterets and Fead and is becoming the main economic commodity for the islanders.
The islanders and seaweed farmers are now seriously farming, harvesting and selling the product to earn income.
Local farmer from the Caterets Island Albert Sarin said a lot of islanders were taking keen interest on seaweed despite some challenges they were facing.
“At the moment, the product is selling for K1 per kilo and individual farmers are likely to earn about K60 to K100 a bag, depending on the quantity they produce,” Sarin said.
Sarin said the storage sheds in the Caterets and Fead Islands were full and they were waiting for transportation to Buka. Mv Doy Trader managed to transport 638 bags of seaweed from the Caterets, 354 bags from Fead Island and 284 bags from Buka last week.
The seaweeds are processed and repacked by the Bougainville Seaweed Ltd and exported to China.