THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has undertaken measures to rehabilitate two seaweed nurseries in Jose Dalman, Zamboanga del Norte.

The seaweed nurseries in the villages of Madalag and Tamil, Jose Dalman, which were established in 2021, were destroyed late last year due to inclement weather conditions.

BFAR Regional Director Al-zath Kunting said the rehabilitation effort includes the initial distribution of 4,000 kilos of seaweed planting materials on Thursday, January 26.

Kunting said the planting materials were equally divided by the seaweed nursery project beneficiaries, namely, the Tamil Seaweed Planter’s Association and Madalag Fisherfolk Association.

Arcelita Andaya, Zamboanga del Norte provincial fishery officer, spearheaded the distribution of seaweed planting materials along with her staff.

Before the distribution of seaweed planting materials, the rest of the rehabilitation materials such as polyethylene ropes, floaters, anchors, and others were already delivered ahead of time to the beneficiaries.

Kunting said the intervention would help revive and boost further the production of raw dried seaweed in Jose Dalman and the adjacent municipalities whose seaweed farmers are expected to engage in the venture since the seaweed planting season has already commenced.

He said the establishment of seaweed nurseries is a strategic tool employed by BFAR to promote, sustain, and improve seaweed production in Zamboanga del Norte, which has been proven successful.

He said that utilization of potential areas for seaweed farming is optimized since the farmers will no longer have to acquire planting materials from afar such as from Zamboanga Sibugay which can be somewhat impractical and costly.

However, in extraordinary cases when established seaweed nurseries are damaged, and their production is compromised, BFAR makes it one of its top priorities to provide all the necessary interventions for its rehabilitation and continuous operation. (SunStar Zamboanga)