E. denticulatum commercially called spinosum are raw materials for extracting kappa and iota carrageenan, respectively. Generally speaking, kappa carrageenan is stronger
thicker and hence a more favoured gelling agent than iota. Several cold-water red seaweed species e.g. Gigartina skottsbergii and Sarcothalia
crispata from Chile and Chondrus crispus from Canada have also been used to extract special carrageenans that cannot be supplied by warm-water Kappaphycus and
Eucheuma Bixler and Porse, 2011. Although cultivation of cold-water carrageenan- containing seaweeds has been experimented Buschmann et al., 2004, to date their
production has depended almost entirely on wild collection Bixler and Porse, 2011.
2.1 Production
According to FAO statistics, world carrageenan seaweed farming production increased from less than 1 million wet tonnes in 2000 to 5.6 million wet tonnes in 2010, with
the corresponding farmgate value increasing from USD72 million to USD1.4 billion. Major carrageenan seaweed farming countries include Indonesia, the Philippines, the
United Republic of Tanzania, Malaysia and China Figure 3 and Table 1.
Salient facts about the main producers include the following: • Indonesia is currently the largest carrageenan seaweed farming country, accounting
for 61 percent of world production in 2010. Kappaphycus is the main cultivated species in Indonesia.
• The Philippines used to be the largest carrageenan seaweed farming country, accounting for 72 percent of world production in 2000. Its share declined to
32 percent in 2010 following the rapid expansion of carrageenan seaweed farming in Indonesia. Kappaphycus is the main cultivated species in the Philippines.
• Compared with Indonesia and the Philippines, which together accounted for 90 percent of world production in 2010, carrageenan seaweed cultivation in
the United Republic of Tanzania is on a much smaller scale, accounting for only 2.3 percent of world production in 2010. The operation is concentrated in
Zanzibar accounting for 95 percent of the country’s seaweed farming production in 2010. Unlike Indonesia and the Philippines, the main cultivated species in the
United Republic of Tanzania is Eucheuma denticulatum.
FIGURE 3
World carrageenan seaweed farming production
Note: Carrageenan seaweeds under cultivation are Kappaphycus and Eucheuma seaweeds Solieriaceae Source: FAO FishStat
1 2
3 4
5 6
Rest of the world China
Malaysia United Republic of Tanzania
Philippines Indonesia
2010 2008
2006 2004
2002 2000
Million wet tonnes
10
• Carrageenan seaweed farming is on a much smaller scale in the other three case-study countries. According to FAO statistics, the production of cultivated
carrageenan seaweed in 2010 was 8 000 wet tonnes in Solomon Islands and 4 240 wet tonnes in India, while the production in Mexico is not reported in the
FAO statistics.
• The six case-study countries accounted for about 95 percent of world cultivation of carrageenan seaweed in 2010. Other major cultivating countries include
Malaysia 3.7 percent of world production in 2010 and China 1.1 percent. The performance of carrageenan seaweed farming is constrained by a number of
environmental factors: • Seasonality, which is one of the main causes of production fluctuations, has
been a common issue for Indonesia and the Philippines. Experience of seaweed farmers in Indonesia indicated that monthly harvest could be 2.8 times of the
average in the best season but only 42 percent in the worst season. Shifting cultivating sites and changing cultivars have been approaches used by farmers
to accommodate seasonality, but most farmers reported that seasonal effects on growth were a major handicap Neish, 2013. In another study that surveyed two
hundred seaweed farmers in Indonesia Zamroni and Yamao, 2011, changes in the monsoon seasons were ranked as the most critical challenge.
• Disease is another major problem, which not only discourages farmers but also contributes to supply uncertainty for processors. “Ice-ice” disease is a common
disease that affects carrageenan seaweed farming worldwide. Primarily because of perennial “ice-ice” outbreaks, cottonii cultivation in Zanzibar the United
Republic of Tanzania declined from over 1 000 tonnes in 2001 to almost zero in 2008 Msuya, 2013. Indonesia and the Philippines have also suffered from “ice-
ice” disease Neish, 2013; Hurtado, 2013.
• Inclement weather is a great risk to seaweed farming. Indeed, the experimental carrageenan seaweed farming project on which the Mexico case study is based
had to be terminated prematurely after the experimental farms were destroyed by a hurricane Robledo, Gasca-Leyva and Fraga, 2013. In the Philippines,
typhoons have damaged seaweed farms several times in the last three decades, and seasonal weather patterns can prevent production throughout the year. Crop
insurance is available in the Philippines; and farmers are encouraged to purchase insurance even though it adds to their costs Hurtado, 2013. In India, insurance
Year 2000 Year 2010
Top 5 producers Quantity
thousand wet tonnes
Share Top 5 producers
Quantity thousand wet
tonnes Share
World 944
100.0 World
5 623 100.0
Philippines 679
71.9 Indonesia
3 399 60.5
Indonesia 197
20.9 Philippines
1 795 31.9
United Republic of Tanzania
1
51 5.4
Malaysia 208
3.7 Kiribati
11 1.2
United Republic of Tanzania
1
132 2.3
Fiji 5
0.6 China
64 1.1
Top 5 total 943
