Nick Paul

The inclusion of biochar in diets for fish, poultry, and monogastric and ruminant livestock is increasingly being evaluated as a means to achieve environmental and productivity goals. The positive effects of dietary biochar inclusion on animal or bird health when the diet or environment contains toxins, such as aflatoxins in feed or ammonia in pond water for fish or shed atmosphere for poultry, are well established. These health benefits often feed through to improved animal productivity. When no toxins are present, the feeding of biochar is less likely to improve livestock productivity. Studies to assess whether the inclusion of biochar in the diet will reduce the emission of enteric methane from ruminants have shown very diverse results associated with diverse biochars being evaluated. Laboratory studies indicate some biochars are effective in methane mitigation but there are few animal feeding studies, and fewer still with emission data arising from robust measurement programs. Customization of dietary biochars to adsorb hydrogen and methane and react with reactive oxygen species may offer a means to reduce net methane output from ruminant livestock.

Adoption of any new agriculture or aquaculture technology by intended beneficiary farmers is not a simple process. Typically, new technologies and new activities have been delivered to farmers through a ‘technology-push’, designed and supported by governments, non-government organisations and donor community, yet rates of adoption are disappointingly low. In this paper we set out to explore barriers and enablers for engagement in a new aquaculture activity, as perceived by the intended farmers. Our example is of ‘technology-push’ towards seaweed farming in coastal villages in Samoa. To increase the likelihood of greater adoption in the future, we explored perceptions of the intended beneficiaries by conducting 20 focus group discussions with 135 women and men, in 10 villages. Specifically, we explored their perceptions of seaweed as an industry, as well as perceptions of barriers and enablers linked to the key market system components: core production functions (inputs and outputs); supporting functions (such as transport, finance, training); institutional barriers; and personal agency. We found that a set of inputs seen as ‘essential’ was much broader than inputs suggested in market systems studies. Essential inputs included not only materials, tools, equipment and labour, but also extended to include information, knowledge and skills; farm governance and protection of the farms; personal agency; and environmental context. What emerged from our data is a clear division of what participants saw as solutions that can be resolved by them (such as arranging informal institutions) versus solutions that need to be provided externally (such as tools, skills, financing and markets) for which the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries was seen as the key external provider. We suggest that, when introducing new activities or technologies, adequate time and effort needs to be put into (a) finding out what essential inputs for the potential beneficiaries of the activity are; and (b) providing them with such inputs in pre-planned manner.

Seaweed (‘rumput laut’) farming in Indonesia is carried out through much of the archipelago, and mainly by smallholder farmers. Indonesia is the largest global producer of the red seaweeds Kappaphycus alvarezii and Eucheuma denticulatum (colloquially ‘cottonii’ and ‘spinosum’) which are used to produce carrageenan, and is a major producer of Gracilaria, used to produce agar. Seaweed farming is attractive to farmers in rural coastal communities because capital and operating costs are low, farming techniques are not technically demanding, labour requirements are relatively low (allowing farmers to engage in other livelihoods), and production cycles are short (~45 days) with the potential to provide regular income throughout much of the year. Using the reported values for seaweed-farming income we do emphasise that the farming of seaweeds can, but does not always, lift rural households above the Indonesian poverty line. This economic rationale is a major driving force behind much of the international interest in small holder farming of seaweed across tropical countries, and this finding early in the project provided important context for all subsequent work with farming communities.

In addition to the direct financial benefits of seaweed production, the project team provided new insights on the broader impacts of seaweed farming, specifically that farming contributes to human and social capitals within households and communities. Continued delivery of economic and social benefits from seaweed farming will require additional policy development, as well as technical research and development to support improved and more consistent seaweed productivity, improved product quality at farm level, provision of effective extension and technical support services, and diversification of the existing value chains to reduce the impacts of price fluctuations associated with global commodity chains. The work that the Indonesian project partners continue to conduct across these broad themes will be crucial for long-term sustainable development of the industry and the communities that rely upon them.

Seaweed innovations can provide opportunities to enhance economic, environmental and social wellbeing impacts on Indonesian coastlines and across the country. Project publications and outputs are described herein, focusing on analysing the value chains for established red seaweeds Kappaphycus and Eucheuma, understanding the socio- economic benefits for women from community-scale processing, identifying existing and emerging species of seaweed using molecular barcoding techniques and improving the quality of seaweed produced at the farm level to enhance gel yields for global commodity markets. The project also identified new product opportunities for seaweeds that can be developed domestically, developed new processing techniques and, importantly for waste management, identified innovative methods to manage processing waste streams. For example, the solid waste from agar extraction of Gracilaria consists of micronutrients and growth hormones with now demonstrated use as plant fertiliser, and high-value pigments and bio-salt can be pre-extracted from Kappaphycus at the farm prior to shipment and processing for carrageenan. These and other value-adding product innovations from the project are now being evaluated in a circular economy approach, with numerous publications and intellectual property being developed.

One of the most important contributions of the project was the provision of fundamental taxonomic information on the seaweeds being farmed in Indonesia, and the associated capacity-building provided through molecular workshops on DNA barcoding techniques. The results established, in many instances for the first time, which species are under cultivation in Indonesia, as the origins of most of the cultivars are obscure. This work confirmed that seaweed taxonomy must be based on molecular investigations, as morphological characteristics are not useful for seaweeds due to their inherent phenotypic plasticity. The outcome of this component of the project is the surety on the species being produced that is essential for marketing and for selecting superior seed stocks for farming.

A series of large and logistically challenging experiments was conducted on the farming of Kappaphycus across Indonesia. Discussions between the project team and farmers in some locations provided anecdotes and a perceived general trend of decreasing seaweed production. The seminal research conducted by the Loka Gorontalo (Seaweed Centre) team demonstrated inherent variability in growth rates and chemical composition of seaweeds when farmed in a standardised manner at their source locations. Furthermore, when seedstock were translocated from throughout Indonesia to a single ‘common garden’ experimental trial site in South Sulawesi, there were significant source by environment interactions with different cultivars performing differently, some better and some worse than the local cultivar over multiple cycles and across different environmental conditions. Similar insights were gained in ‘reciprocal transplant’ farm trials of Gracilaria cultivars from different locations (pond and sea) and of transplants of Caulerpa cultivars from different pond sites in South Sulawesi. To reiterate, research of this type has not been reported elsewhere in Indonesia and rarely done at scale around the world. The results and the methods developed by the project teams are fundamental for establishing effective processes for improving the growth rates and quality of the seaweed, and utilising the full breadth of cultivars available in Indonesia.

One of the main objectives of the project was to quantitatively document the socio- economic benefits of seaweed farming for communities with a focus on women. The publication outputs from this package of work are already important contributions to the global literature on seaweed farming, and being cited accordingly. These journal articles are complemented by the soon to be released ‘Makassar Seaweed Recipe’ book which provide instructions in both Bahasa and English on recipes selected by the interviewed women’s groups. This monograph has been designed to enhance the standing and growth of the women’s groups in South Sulawesi, which were both active contributors and beneficiaries in the project. Importantly, the project has identified next steps to ensure the sustainability and further development of the women’s groups.

Overall, the project was a productive, multi-disciplinary and collegial effort to understand and enhance seaweed farming and processing in Indonesia. Upon reflection, perhaps the end of project reviewers captured the essence of the team work best through their written comment that ‘the project has been perceived by stakeholders as one of Australia’s most significant contributions to Indonesian people’. The project created collaborations that are sustained to this day, as articles continue to be published and connections across the partner organisations expand through student exchange and mobility to other agencies. The disruption of COVID over the last year of operations hampered the activities on the ground, and ultimately the ability to bring farmers together to workshop the project results. However, this did provide the opportunity to publish a significant number of articles publications in national and international journals in both English and Bahasa. Members of the Biotek product team also received an Innovation Award and had a patent registered.

At the time of writing there are many global voices and relentless coverage of seaweed in the futuristic context of solving some of the most significant environmental challenges of our time. Some commentary is well founded, but most is over-simplified and makes assumptions about scale that even China and Indonesia have not achieved, with decades of learnings across business and research domains. In contemplating the next steps for seaweed initiatives, an Indonesian phrase that is relevant to fisheries comes to mind:

Tong kosong nyaring bunyinya (an empty vessel makes the most noise)

The ACIAR Indonesian Seaweed Project leaves a full vessel of rumput laut knowledge as its legacy, with 24 publications spread across all three Objectives. The outputs include 20 journal articles (15 with Indonesian first authors and 15 open access), 2 publications in Bahasa in the ‘Proceedings of the Annual National Seminar on Fisheries and Marine Products’ and significant impact through participation in national and international conferences and workshops during the project and since its completion (Appendix 1, and elsewhere). Many insights and lessons have been shared on the world stage and, at the same time, with the farmers, processors and communities within which the work took place. We look forward to the uptake of this research and helping to shape the future of global seaweed investments with the multidisciplinary lens that directed this project.

Salmonids represent US$23 billion of global aquaculture value, yet Atlantic salmon farms lose approximately 10% of their production to diseases and parasites every year. New approaches to minimise such losses are urgently needed because current treatments (e.g. antibiotics) have environmental and human health impacts with increasing sea temperatures predicted to further exacerbate the impacts of disease. Immunostimulants that boost fish resistance to disease without negative environmental or human health impacts are currently being assessed. Seaweeds and their extracts are used as immunostimulants for land animals and are increasingly being investigated for use in finfish aquaculture, including for Atlantic salmon. Here we show that when the red seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis and its extract were incorporated in Atlantic salmon feed, fish growth rates were enhanced up to 33%, feed intake was enhanced up to 13%, FCR were reduced, and innate immune responses were enhanced up to 58% compared to fish fed unsupplemented control diets over 4 weeks. Overall, fish fed the methanolic extract of A. taxiformis (at an inclusion of ~1% on a dry weight basis, D:D of feed) had the best combination of enhanced growth rate, feed intake and immune response. Fish fed the immunostimulant lipopolysaccharide (LPS) derived from Escherichia coli had the highest innate immune response in our trial, however LPS had no enhanced effect on growth or feed intake. Additionally, we provide evidence that the seaweed and LPS supplements modulated the expression of immune and stress-related genes in both the liver and head kidneys. More specifically, the fish fed the supplemented diets showed increased expression of the HSP70 gene in both their liver and head kidney after 2 weeks of treatment. At 4 weeks high HSP70 and lysozyme gene expression was observed in the fish fed the two seaweed methanolic extract diets. The seaweed diets also enhanced the diversity of bacterial communities within the hindgut of Atlantic salmon while the LPS treatment appeared to have the opposite effect. Whole A. taxiformis or its methanolic extracts could therefore be used as functional feed ingredients that boost the immune response and enhance the growth rate of Atlantic salmon without affecting feed efficiencies.

Seaweed farming is one of the few industries in Pacific island countries that is culturally and technologically appropriate, and able to provide marine-based livelihood benefits to men and women in remote coastal communities. There is a considerable opportunity to modernise and expand the seaweed industry, including the introduction of new products and applications, and this can be done with the support of government, fisheries departments, researchers and the private sector.

Seaweed production in Indonesia almost exclusively comes from community-based farming activities, yet the industry has expanded at an unprecedented rate since 2010 to position the country as the major producer. We explored community perceptions of seaweed farming in South Sulawesi, using a well-being-impact evaluation (W-IE) method. Surveying 74 women from coastal villages where seaweed is a significant source of household income we found evidence of positive economic and social impacts from seaweed farming. Extra income earned from seaweed was instrumental in creation of positive change in 5 out of 10 most important contributors to well-being: transport, housing, basic needs, other needs and education. No negatives changes were linked to seaweed farming and there was evidence of increasing life satisfaction throughout villages, both by women from families who are and who are not engaged in farming, indicating positive equity aspects. This might be due to historical development of the industry in Indonesia, where production is dominated by smallholders. Future interventions that seek to further increase production by focusing on large-scale commercial ventures need to be cognisant of the potential negative economic and social impacts of moving from small-scale to large-scale enterprises, and of the consequent implications for well-being and regional development.

Seaweeds are produced for food and as industrial products throughout the Pacific and many communities rely on this production for significant portions of their income. This industry is diverse in the types of seaweeds produced, whether they are cultured or harvested from the coastline, the way that they are processed and in the final use of the seaweeds. However, the biochemical charactertistcs of seaweed across the Pacific region, and the corresponding range of product opportunities, is not well understood. The aim of this research was to sample and characterise the biochemical composition of key species of seaweed from three countries (Fiji, Samoa and Kiribati). More than 1000 individual data entries on the biochemical properties of seaweed were made including analysis of fibre, protein, lipid, ash (minerals) and moisture content. The following product sheets were created for different species in different countries: Kappaphycus (Fiji, Kiribati), Caulerpa (Fiji, Samoa), Hypnea (Fiji), Gracilaria/Hydropuntia (Fiji), Ulva (Fiji, Kiribati), Acanthophora (Kiribati), Tomatoes (grown with Acanthophora seaweed compost, Kiribati).