The Seaweed Farmers of Caluya
Arriving in Caluya you just cannot help but notice that the sea is covered in what looks like mini icebergs or salt pillars but the thousands of white objects are in fact polystyrene floats holding up the seaweed plants being cultivated all along the coast.
polystyrene seaweed floats line the coastline
Caluya Seaweed Farmer planting seedlings
The typhoon Yolanda last November destroyed most of their crop and everyone is now working round the clock to make the most of the seaweed growing season until April when the winds change and the waves become bigger.
Caluya Seaweed Farming
The younger children play with the sea weed and have lots of fun at sunset throwing it at each other 🙂
Girl playing with sand and seaweed Caluya
seaweed fun at sunset Caluya
The islands around here have the perfect conditions for cultivating seaweed. Seaweed needs a sheltered condition with slight wave movement for growth and with the shallow waters and a kind of barrier reef protecting the plants from strong currents, the seaweed thrives providing a good alternative income to the fishermen of Caluya.
Seaweed farming is a family business
Seaweed farming is labour intensive and all the family is involved in the whole process.
A man cutting and retying the seaweed outside his house
The seaweed farmers grow the seaweed from seedlings and once it has grown enough the seaweed is taken out of the water to be recut and replanted on new lines or dried and bagged if it has grown enough for harvesting.
seaweed hung to dry by the beach
newly tied seaweed being taken back to sea for rejuvenation floating
After the seaweed is taken from the water to be cut and retied on the lines it needs to be floated for a day or two in its natural condition to recover from the shock of being out of the water before it is strung out in lines again for growth.
seaweed rejuvenating before being replanted
Lines of seaweed Caluya
Seaweed Drying
Caluya seaweed drying on road
After it is dried and bagged the seaweed is shipped to Cebu where it is then processed into Carrageenan which is used for their gelling, thickening, and stabilizing properties and can be found in many products from food to toothpaste.
Caluya seaweed floating
Caluya sunset on the seaweed farm
Watch a short video
Seaweed farming in Caluya Island, Antique, Philippines. Propagating the seaweed. The whole family helps prepare the seaweed. The seaweed is taken off the old string , cut and retied to a new string before being returned to the sea.
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Thank you for posting about Caluya. We plan to go there this April. Would you mind sharing where you stayed there?
There are not many places to stay. I stayed at Animas lodging house. It is easy to get there from the boat landing beach. Walk along the beach till you see the Police Station and Municipal Offices and then ask directions. Its very close. It should be P250 a night. Rooms are basic with shared CR. There is also another homestay just behind the Municipal Building somewhere that i heard of later but i didnt get its name. Otherwise thats it I am afraid.
Best place for a good breakfast is Sammy’s Eatery…….
I will be posting more about Caluya soon, so please come back and check……but meantime here is another one i wrote
http://silverbackpacker.com/the-island-on-the-horizon
Hi, I like to use some of your pictures of Caluya seaweeds. farms, farmers, etc in my future presentations about Caluya seaweed farming. I am a marine biologist and your pictures are good ones,
Thanks. Ronald
Yes you may use them Ronald. Please just leave a credit to silverbackpacker.com.
Will you be uploading them to a website or using on internet? If so i am interested to follow your presentations.