This article summarizes Chapter 12, Diverse Seaweed Farming Livelihoods in Indonesian Villages, from an e-book entitled Tropical Phyconomy Coalition Development: Focus on Eucheumatoid Seaweeds. The authors collected primary data by surveying 273 seaweed farmers in South Sulawesi, the biggest seaweed-producing province in Indonesia which produces approximately 20% of the global supply of carrageenan seaweed, representing 32% and 74% of Laikang and Pitu Sunggu farmers, respectively. The most common species of seaweed grown were cottonii and sacol, farmed by longline method. This method involves tying seaweed seedlings on ropes, 25m and 40m in length in Pitu Sunggu and Laikang, respectively. The farmers need buoys to keep the rope and seaweed floating, so they usually use disposable plastic bottles and Styrofoam. But, these buoys release nanoplastic to the marine ecosystem and their after-use pollutes the seashore. Buoys, that are ecofriendly, light, low-cost, easily transportable, and adjustable buoyancy, are needed.
Both seaweed species, cottonii and sacol, produce kappa-carrageenan and have the same price, but cottonii prefers the wet season, while sacol prefers the dry season. The average annual seaweed production in Laikang and Pitu Sunggu was 1.63 and 1.66 tons per household, respectively, which is much less than its optimum. Some farmer groups also farm spinosum, with a shorter cycle (20 days).
Tying the seaweed seedlings is time-consuming and should be completed in a single day so the seaweed can be farmed in the sea on the same day. A group of five people working for 6 hours could therefore be expected to complete just 30 longlines. All people, including the elderly, disabled, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and unskilled people can do this job.
Seaweed farmers are vulnerable to climate change. Bad weather causes not only a decrease in productivity but also losses for the farmers. Seaweed productivity varies due to the climate. Not only the productivity decline, but the farmers get lost. In Pitu Sunggu, after 3 days of rain, one farmer reported that he had deployed 300 long lines, but the seaweed rotted on half of those lines. The loss is estimated at IDR 10 million, excluding the wages for laborers who worked to tie the seedling. Another farmer who has planted 1200 longlines that were 1 month old reported losing IDR 50 million. Eighty percent of seaweed farmers require non-collateral credit from the traders, but the farmers have to sell the seaweed to that trader. Traders do not charge interest, but seaweed from farmers with debt is paid 3-9% lower than that from farmers without debt. This price reduction does not reduce the loan amount.