(Interaksyon) BALINTANG, Philippines (Thomson Reuters Foundation) — Despite the ravages of storms, seaweed farming is transforming the lives of Filipino families in traditionally male-dominated fishing communities, turning women into family breadwinners who are paying for their children to go to college.
The Cherish Fisherfolk Cooperative of 120 seaweed farmers in the Palawan village of Balintang is named after the 1984 hit “Cherish” by U.S. band Kool & the Gang.
“Cherish means to protect and care for what we have,” Mardy Montano, president of the cooperative, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation as she rested after a day’s work on a floating house in the midst of Palawan’s turquoise waters.
“That’s how valuable seaweed farming is for all of us.”
Seaweed farming is the world’s fastest-growing form of aquaculture and the Philippines is the fourth largest producer globally. More than 1 million Filipinos benefit from the seaweed industry, according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources… Read More
