(a) The site must adequately supply the alga's physical and biological requirements. These requirements are physical factors such as nutrients, light, water motion, temperature, substrate, storms, salinity, and sedimentation. The biological factors are grazers, competition, and pathogens. The best site for farming the Eucheuma seems to be the leeward side or inner side of the barrier reef (reef flat) and there is no problem about nutrients and light. The upwelling of the seawater, as it enters the lagoon, allows the surf (bubbles) to carry sufficient inorganic nutrients as well as oxygen and carbon dioxide to the proposed seaweed farms. There are strong currents and water motion on selected sites between islands and especially on breaks along barrier reefs. Mild storms also occur in the Laamu Atoll which cause upwelling and make inorganic nutrients available to the plants. The surface water temperature taken at 3–4 pm was 30 degrees Celsius, which is optimal and means that the morning and night temperatures are lower than 30 degrees Celsius. Mixing of upwelled water and surface water on the reef flats ensures constant supply of cool water beneficial to the seaweeds.
The substrate is deep fine white sand. This kind of substrate will not allow growth of many kinds of wild seaweeds (which is the case in most reef flats in the Maldives) because the seaweeds can not hold on to stronger foundation. However, the soft bottom makes it easy and cheap to establish the planting gears such as anchors, stakes, and lines. The grow-out units (net-bags) can be attached to the anchor lines. The Laamu Atoll, as well as the whole of the Maldives is not affected by tropical typhoons , a very important positive factor in selecting the site for the seaweed farm. Salinity is not a problem because there is no fresh water pollution from rivers. The seawater was tested for salinity and was determined to be 35 ppt which is ideal for the seaweed. The seawater is very clear, hence sedimentation is not a problem. The bottom sand after disturbance showed a very fast settling rate (1–2 sec). Among the biological factors, only grazing by fish was perceived as a serious problem. Algal fish grazers were reported to be a problem in Maldives. They belong to the Scaridae family or the Parrot fish of which there are five species. This fish is mostly found on the reef edges and reef slopes and may go into the reef flats to attack the seaweeds. Other fish grazers classified as herbivores and omnibores also abound in the Maldivian reefs, including the destructive Siganids. The herbivores mostly belong to the Acanthuridae family such as the surgeon fish, sailfin tang, and unicorn fish. There are omnivores, of which eleven (11) species belong to nine (9) families such as the grey mullet, batfish, butterfly fish, clown fish, wrasse, triggerfish, box fish, and puffer fish. Perhaps the herbivores and omnivores will not be very destructive to the Eucheuma because they have alternative food. It is important that the seaweed farm should be properly sited away from the reef edge so that the grazers will not be a big problem. The new technique of farming the Eucheuma was designed by the consultant to minimize the deleterious effects of the grazers. This technique was found to be effective against the Siganids in the Philippines. Other grazers such as sea urchin and synapta are rarely found in most of the reef flats of the Laamu Atoll.
The more suitable sites for the seaweed farms are the shallow intertidal zones (reef flats). Seaweed farming will thus not compete with fishing and other mariculture projects such as sea cucumber, giant clams, and penned fish culture. In fact, seaweed farming is complementary to all other mariculture ventures.
The site must be located away from adverse pollution sources. There are no polluting factors such as fresh water from rivers which may lower the salinity, or factories which discharge their wastes into the sea. Oil spilled from boats will not affect the seaweeds because the farm sites are on shallow shores which are not the natural passages for boats. The government also should enact laws (if not yet enacted) making punishable dumping of garbage into the sea. The consultant noticed this practice at Gamu Island near the proposed seaweed farm site.
There must be adequate area for expansion. All the shallow intertidal shores on the inner sides of the Laamu Atoll are suitable for seaweed farming, especially where water current is strong and where seagrass (thalassia) is growing. If grass such as Thalassia which grows on the reef flats is clean, then this is a sure sign that the site is good for Eucheuma farming. During tidal changes, when the current is strong, the grass should lay flat on the ground. If the leaves show an angle of about 45 degrees, that is still a sign that the water current is adequate. The farmable area is tremendous and could be quantified into several thousand hectares.
The site should be accessible to algal drying sites and processing and/or transport facilities. Many of the islets adjacent to the seaweed farm sites are not populated, hence plenty of space for drying purposes along the seashores and even in the interior of the island. There are also plenty of coconut trees which can be used in making drying platforms for the seaweeds. The leaf petioles and the leaves are very useful in the construction of the drying platforms. As soon as production of the seaweeds is substantial, the production of upgraded materials can follow. Transport facilities for the products to Male and then to the processing plants in the USA and Europe are adequate, especially via Singapore which is a trans-shipment point for most of the seaweeds produced in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. If container vans are available in Male, direct shipment to Europe can be done through the Suez Canal and then to Denmark and Ireland where big Eucheuma processing refineries are located. Maldives is much closer to the Eucheuma factories than all other seaweed-producing countries in the world, a very significant advantage in terms of freight cost and handling.
There should be readily available source of skilled and unskilled labour amenable to the often rigorous working conditions of the marine environment. The seaweed farming technology has evolved throughout the years so that most of the operations are already done on land near the shore and even under the shade. The technology has been simplified but made more efficient. Ordinary folks can be trained easily as long as they are willing to be trained. Supervisory staff can always be hired from expatriates who can train the locals in the art of seaweed farming and processing. The real problem could be the shortage of local people who will be willing to work in the farm since it seems that fishing is still appealing to them. However, there are always the women who can be tapped to do this work.
Appropriate research facilities should be readily accessible. The government of the Maldives has the proper Ministry which can support the research activities required by the proposed project. The Oceanography Society of Maldives, a non-government organization, which initiated this project should guarantee the required technical expertise.
