Riches in the sea

About five years ago Goabased marine conservationist Gabriella DrsquoCruz met a community whose members have been harvesting seaweed for generations by diving to collect the algae off the Gulf of Mannar in Tamil Nadu The encounter with these women who are paid a measly R1520 for a kilo of seaweed for the labourintensive dangerous job of handharvesting by freediving for hours left a mark drawing her into Indiarsquos seaweed story Currently seaweed in India is where spirulina was 10 years agoA species of brown seaweed known as Dictyota dichotoma found along the Saurashtra coast GujaratldquoItrsquos a very lowvalue industry When you minimise the middlemen and have direct contact with your harvesters there is a possibility for a better price and safety standards The industry needs the framing of stringent guidelines which are currently lacking India doesnrsquot have a seaweed policy and therersquos no protection status given to itrdquo Drsquocruz saysWomen in Palk Bay tie seaweed onto ropes which are strung on rafts and floated in open seas for cultivation Pics courtesyYCRK Reddy and Abhiram SethGujarat and Tamil Nadu are the primary suppliers of seaweed with communities in their coastal areas harvesting and selling it to middlemen who then do business with pharmaceutical and food companies Itrsquos often used as a hydrocolloid a thickening agent found in toothpaste ice creams and whipping creams ldquoThe seaweed industry is like the palm oil industry itrsquos in a lot of products but we donrsquot really know where it comes from and whether itrsquos sustainablerdquo says DrsquoCruz whose firm The Good Ocean consults with companies that want to include seaweed in their products She hopes to eventually enter the food and beauty industries because she feels that is where change can be spurred Seaweed has the potential to be a superfood thanks to its high content of vitamins minerals and iodine but there continues to be hesitation about direct consumption which is restricted to dishes like sushi and ramen ldquoRight now the key players in the seaweed market are hydrocolloidbased industries If there are going to be new players they have to be sensitive to the fact that we need to conserve oceans work directly with communities and ensure they are paid betterrdquo Drsquocruz explainsThe Indian government recently allocated R637 crore to seaweed cultivation a step that is crucial for two reasons as Neha Jain founder of Zerocircle an earlystage startup that makes homecompostable and marine degradable packaging for brands from locally cultivated seaweed explains ldquoThe first is from the perspective of carbon capture as there is no other plant that captures carbon dioxide as fast as seaweed Anywhere between 60 to 80 per cent of the oxygen on the planet comes from the ocean evidence enough that for centuries the oceans have been taking care of usrdquo Seaweed also prevents acidification and scavenges the chemicals washed into the seas as a result of fertiliser usage in agriculture Second she says the move offers employment opportunities to coastal communities especially those affected by the climate crisis She discusses how during field trips to fishing villages in Maharashtra in late 2019 she learnt that the income of locals dependent on the fishing trade had been drastically affected due to depleting supply of fish ldquoThey are very happy with the idea of a new source of income emerging from the same watersrdquoAbhiram Seth and CRK ReddyJain shares that the biggest challenge for companies like hers which are creating seaweedderived valueadded products is the issue of biomass availability There is just not enough seaweed produced in India despite its 8000 km coastline and over 800 available species Abhiram Seth managing director of AquAgri Processing Pvt Ltd a leader in developing new technologies for seaweed cultivation and harvesting offers an explanation Cultivation of seaweed he says doesnrsquot take place in the high seas but in protected spaces like gulf areas which do not have high tidal action In India however in gulf areas cultivation of Kappaphycus alvarezii the weed primarily used for this purpose is not allowed by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change because it is not a native species ldquoI have found no scientific justification for thisrdquo he says ldquoIt is strange considering the entire agricultural backbone of our country is based on exotics and not native speciesmdashthe wheat which we grow comes from Mexico and the rice from the Philippines Growth of cultivation has been stifled because of thisrdquo Moreover with rising sea temperatures around 201617 the planting material lost its vigour resulting in the need for facilities for its mass propagation Although initially focused on carrageenan for the food industry Aquagri is also developing nutritional supplements for cattle poultry and fish These have shown to increase their immune response improving productivity In cattle crucially they help significantly in the reduction of methane emissionsNeha Jain ZerocircleA solution is landbased cultivation Dr CRK Reddy CEO at the Indian Centre for Climate and Societal Impact Research ICCSIR Shri Vivekanand Research and Training Institute VRTI Gujarat explains that cultivation in India is done in the sea because it doesnrsquot require much investment as all conditions required for its growth are available in nature However monsoons disrupt cultivation for four months every year A few thousand hectares along the Indian coast need to be cultivated he says with about 100 to 200 operating units ldquoWe are optimistic about the seaweed industry in India as we have the resources India has the potential to be a global competitor provided a blueprint is developed Our production is costcompetitive and we have a huge consumer baserdquo He informs that ICCSIR supported by a consortium comprising Excel Industries Ltd Pidilite Industries and the Mamata Group is spearheading a seaweed programme to develop proven cultivation technologies for the reversal of climate change