AT LEAST 10 stakeholders involved in the production of seaweeds have formed a technical working group (TWG) to address the current challenges of the seaweed industry brought by climate change and other factors.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, to serve as a framework of cooperation among four national government agencies, three government financial institutions, three academic institutions, three local government units, one legislative district, two processors, two civil society organizations, two traders and exporters and three farmer organizations.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 7 announced that the TWG will unify previously fragmented efforts, allowing agencies and stakeholders to mount a coordinated response to the industry’s collapse.
“We will not allow the seaweed industry to further decline,” BFAR 7 Director Mario Ruinata said during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing the TWG under the Seaweed Revitalization Program.
The group’s strategy is to synchronize programs across the entire value chain — from seed stock recovery and nursery development to value chain strengthening and market access.
Ruinata said the agreement marks a major shift “from scattered activities to a coordinated strategy,” ensuring clear roles and harmonized support across the sector.
BFAR 7 Regional Seaweed and Milkfish Project Coordinator Joseph Martin Borromeo said the TWG reflects a firm commitment to rebuild an industry battered by environmental stress, disease, poor planting materials, and unstable markets.
“It signifies our shift from working in isolation to working in coordination toward one unified objective — the rehabilitation and revitalization of the seaweed industry in Central Visayas,” he said, adding that Region 7 aims not only to recover lost production but to become “a national model for seaweed rehabilitation”. / CDF