Rising sea temperatures bad news for Indonesian seaweed farmers

Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post 27 Oct 09;

Seaweed farmers in Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan islands, Bali, are suffering from changing sea conditions as a result of climate change.

Community development group Kalimajari, which assist seaweed farmers in Nusa Penida, said sea temperatures had increased by between 2 and 3 degrees Celsius in the last two years, causing the outbreak of a disease locally known as ice-ice, a condition that causes seaweed to decay.

“Farmers have been complaining about sea temperatures getting hotter, and have found the outbreak occurs every planting cycle,” I Gusti Agung Ayu Widiastuti, from Kalimajari, told a seminar on adaptation to climate change in coastal areas, in Sanur, Bali, on Tuesday.

She said the extreme changes in sea conditions had depleted stocks of Euchema seaweed, previously the most profitable species for farmers.

Seaweed production decreased from 500 tons in 2007 to 200 tons in 2008.

Seaweed farming is the main livelihood of people on the two islands. Normally, they earn between Rp 1.5 and 2 million each harvest period, but now they struggle to make ends meet.