Women seaweed farmers seek other jobs while India plans industry expansion
Seaweed farming, a primary source of income for many women in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district, is threatened due to increasing environmental and social challenges.
Reduced number of working days due to increasing cyclones, shrinking space to farm seaweed, decreasing quality of seaweed due to global warming and gender-based discrimination in the society, push the women farmers to pursue alternate sources of income.
Meanwhile, India aims to increase seaweed output to at least one million tonnes annually by 2025 and has started the construction of the country’s first multipurpose seaweed park in Tamil Nadu.
But what makes seaweed farming a risky profession?
Dhanalakshmi S., a seaweed collector from Mangadu explains, “The water sometimes gets stuck in our diving masks while we are underwater. We also have to walk on sharp underwater rocks. Any slip can be lethal. We do not even have a clinic in our village. The closest hospital is eight kilometres across Pamban bridge from our house.”
The divers also have to prove their identity to the Indian Coast Guard when questioned. They add that they are also scared of the Sri Lankan navy, due to the long-prevailing tensions regarding maritime borders, between the two countries. “The (International Maritime) Boundary with Sri Lanka is an hour away on our boats. Earlier, only the fishermen used to get identity cards. After much protests since 2012, some of the fisherwomen, including seaweed workers, finally received biometric cards last year. We can now prove our identities to the security agencies,” says Lakshmi Murthy, a former seaweed collector, who now runs a self-help group on the island.
By 2025, India hopes to expand seaweed output to at least one million tons annually. The investment is a part of the Blue Revolution scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampadhana Yojayana. The construction of a new Integrated Seaweed Park at Thondi in Ramanathapuram District, began on September 2, with an investment of Rs. 127.7 crores (Rs. 1.27 billion). The main components of the seaweed park include identification of potential seaweed resources in coastal fishing villages, establishing tissue culture labs and R&D facilities, shore-based infrastructure facilities (drying yard, warehouse etc.), skill development and capacity building, storage and marketing facility, processing and value addition facility and monitoring and surveillance.
However, more and more women in Ramanathapuram district are discouraging their daughters from taking up seaweed farming after them, as the profession becomes increasingly difficult with different environmental and social pressures.
Aside from fewer working days, the areas where women traditionally picked naturally available seaweed have shrunk as well. Previously, the seaweed farmers could venture out on both the northern (Palk Bay) and southern (Gulf of Mannar) sides of Pamban island. They could make it all the way to the last of the Gulf of Mannar’s 21 islands. They are now limited to collecting seaweed on the northern side (Palk Bay) of the narrow strip of land they call home.
“We used to make week-long trips to Kurusadatheevu (Krusudai island) in the south to gather seaweed. Now the forest department allows access to as far as nine islands, that too for a day’s trip,” shares Murthy.
Many local divers and fishers have long used Krusadai and other adjacent islands as traditional fishing sites in the Gulf of Mannar. This region has now been converted into an eco-tourism spot. From the perspective of marine biodiversity, this region is one of the richest in the world. It was announced as a Marine National Park in 1986 and subsequently declared as a biosphere reserve in 1989. This led to the area becoming off-limits for local communities. Gulf of Mannar is a repository of marine diversity, home to threatened species such as dugongs and coral reefs and is of significant global importance.
Amidst all the odds, to stay afloat, the seaweed collectors have found new avenues of income. During the non-seaweed cultivation periods, the women rely on selling seashell crafts and working as daily wage labourers at local aquaculture factories or taken on work under the 100 days of employment that the MGNREGS provides.
“As a woman making seashell crafts, and selling seaweed, I’m able to run my family as well as educate my children. The younger generation knows the traditional craft of the seaweed business. However, they are unwilling to continue with the profession,” shares Suganthi who, along with many other women, was trained to make sea shell crafts from the National Institute of Fashion Technology.
A dozen strands of seashells sell for Rs. 120. “We have the knowledge of the sea trade, as well as business on land. However, we are uneducated. We see that any passing of a scheme for us requires a signature of the officials. We want to educate our children to be in such positions. If my daughters become a part of the fisheries department instead of going to the sea, then many families like mine will benefit from it. Since she already knows our troubles, she could make better policies and schemes suited for us,” adds Suganthi with hope.
Full story on Mongabay India