The Ministry of Fisheries has announced the successful establishment of an 80m x 100m seaweed farm at the Natila Seaweeds Farm in Tailevu, created in partnership with the local Natila Village as part of a community-based initiative focused on seaweed farming.
The project was executed in two distinct phases. The first phase, which occurred from December 10 to 13 of last year, involved the creation of seaweed nursery plots. This was followed by the planting of seaweed seedlings from January 13 to 21 of this month across designated areas within the farm’s design. Within the farm, an 80m x 20m nursery plot has been established with 58 lines already planted.
In total, the seaweed farm consists of four individual plots, each measuring 80m x 20m. One of these plots has completed line construction, totaling 360 lines, with 200 of these already filled with seaweed seedlings planted by the Central Seaweed Team. To fulfill the farm’s target of 360 lines per plot, the village has received training in effective seaweed farming techniques and is set to plant the remaining 160 lines.
Under the Seaweed Farm Plan, the ministry team will conduct monthly visits to monitor progress on the remaining plots and to establish drying racks and a storage shed for operations. The advancements made so far have resulted in key deliverables such as a comprehensive Seaweed Farm Plan Report and Standard Operating Procedures tailored for seaweed farmers across the country.
The Fisheries Ministry emphasized that this initiative is a significant milestone toward commercial seaweed farming in Fiji, aiming for reduced material costs and enhanced production efficiency. The project is progressing toward the ambitious goal of achieving 4,000 cultivation lines per farm site, paving the way for large-scale, sustainable commercial seaweed operations in the future.
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