This paper describes some trials with seaweed (Gracilaria edulis) farming in the open sea. These trials were carried out between 1987 and 1990 in Vedalai and Chinnapalam, two coastal villages in Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu, India. The purpose of the trials was to discover whether the collectors of wild seaweed in the area could augment their income by cultivating seaweed and, thereby, also possibly preserve their natural resource, which is believed to be diminishing through over-exploitation.

The trials were undertaken by the villagers themselves, with support from the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) and the Tamil Nadu Department of Fisheries.

The seaweed farming project, and this paper which reports on it, have been sponsored by BOBP’s “Small-Scale Fisherfolk Communities in the Bay of Bengal” (GCP/RAS/118/MUL), a project jointly funded by SIDA (Swedish International Development Authority) and DANIDA (Danish International Development Agency) and executed by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). Parallel with the culture trials, attempts were made to introduce simple agar processing technology at village level and this is described elsewhere. That work was carried out but the Post-Harvest Fisheries project of BOBP which is funded and executed by the ODA (Overseas Development Administration) of the United Kingdom.

The BOBP is a multi-agency regional fisheries programme which covers seven countries around the Bay of Bengal Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The Programme plays a catalytic and consultative role: it develops, demonstrates and promotes new techniques, technologies or ideas to help improve the conditions of small-scale fisherfolk communities in member-countries.