TACLOBAN CITY — Eight months after typhoon “Odette” washed out their homes and livelihood, seaweed farmers in Dawahon island in Bato, Leyte and slowly getting back on their feet as the propagules that were given to them earlier have expanded their farms, grown matured and harvested them.
“There is no poor seaweed farmer, if we persevere to plant more seaweeds,” said Ruel Inoc, a member of the Dawahon Seaweed Farmers Association.
In February this year, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources regional office in Eastern Visayas gave seaweed farmers 1.2 tons of seaweed seedlings to restore at least 100 hectares of seaweed farms that were totally destroyed by typhoon “Odette” in December 2021.
Inoc said they were able to recover and re-establish his seaweed farm through his continuous labor and strong desires to stand again, adding that seaweed farmers of Dawahon island are hoping to once again produce millions of tons of seaweed and regain its place as the top producer of seaweed in the region.