The project area is shown in figure 1. Sorsogon is the southern most part of Luzon Island, approximately 650 km south of Metro-Manila. The area is situated within Bicol Region (Region IV). The study area in the region is divided into two - east coast of Sorsogon and Sorsogon Bay. The municipalities are - Preto Diaz, Gubat, Barcelona, Bulusan, Sta. Magdalena and Matnog at the east coast; and Castilla, Sorsogon, Juban and Magallanes at Sorsogon Bay.
Initially, as required by the project guideline, the whole east coast of Sorsogon was studied for selection of demonstration farms. However, based on the results from the test plants and trial plots, environmental conditions the northern coastal areas, such as Preto Diaz, Gubat, Barcelona and Bulusan were selected for development. In Sorsogon Bay area, trials were done at Castilla, Juban and Magallanes. As of now there appears to be many areas suitable for further development in Sorsogon bay areas. However, more studies on biology and ecology are needed to select sites for seaweed farming and resource management.
Figure 1. Eastern Sorsogon and Sorsogon Bay, project area.
The east coast has six coastal municipalities namely - Prieto Diaz, Gubat, Barcelona, Bulusan, Santa Magdalena and Matnog. At the east coast, 89 barangays out of 169 in the municipalities, can be considered as coastal barangays. The Sorsogon bay has five municipalities which comprises of Castilla, Sorsogon, Casiguran, Juban and Magallanus. There are 52 barangays, which are situated around the bay area, out of the 157 barangays in the municipalities (Tagarino, 1992). Of the eastern coastal communities, there are 13.905 households with an average size of 5.2 person per household. In the area there are at least 4,528 fishermen of which 2,908 are full-time fishermen equiped with a total of 3,352 fishing boats. Only seven per cent of the boats are motorised. Gillnets, pushnets and hook & line are the most commonly used fishing gear. Only about 30% of the coastal population are engaged in fishing as their source of income. The estimated average income level of the coastal households in the area ranges from P 2,006 to 3,556 per month. About 70% of their income is derived from primary sources indicating that households have limited alternative incomes.
Cooperative development activities has been initiated incorporation with technical activities. The CDA, Sorsogon Office and Co-operative Entrepreneurship for Rural Development Project (PHI/89/MOI/DAN) have been assisting the project in identification/ selection of viable cooperatives for proposed project cooperators. Nine cooperators have been screened/selected for their participation in the development of seaweed farming and processing activities.
Quality of the Gracilaria species from Sorsogon was studied by Santos (1993). Commercially, the quality of Gracilaria depends upon agar yield and gel strength. The results from the analysis indicated that some of the Gracilaria from the project area are of very high quality. The following are the results: G. firma - agar yield= 11.13 – 23.00% / G.S = 485–1,062 g/cm2 ; G. fastigiata - agar yield= 13.38 – 22.40% / G.S. = 832 – 947 g/cm2 ; G. cylindrica - agar yield = 11.45– 22.00% / G.S. = 745 – 1051 g/cm2; and G. tenuistipitata - agar yield= 6.23– 8.25% / G.S. = 189 – 704 g/cm2.
Estimated volume of Gracilaria being gathered from the wild and traded within Sorsogon amounts to 57.5 MT per year, about 68 % from eastern Sorsogon and the remaining from Sorsogon Bay area (Guanio, 1993). It appears that there is a readied market for both Gracilaria and Eucheuma. The going price in Sorsogon for dried Gracilaria are: buying (from gatherers)= P 3.00/kg; Selling (buyers to agents)= P 5.50 – 6.50/kg. According to a buyer from Bulusan, he was having difficulty in trying to meet his target of 60.0 tons. The problem appears to be the price rather than demand for the seaweed.
