‘Seaweed farming can transform Bangladesh’s blue economy’

Seaweed farming holds enormous prospect for Bangladesh to expand its blue economy as the marine plants and algae have multipurpose applications in industries like food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and fertilizer in local and global markets, according to experts in this field.

To promote seaweed farming commercially, the country needs to develop its market value chain which is missing yet, they said.

This world’s fast-growing sector still remains almost unexplored in Bangladesh despite having a large sea area in the Bay of Bengal following the disposal of maritime disputes with two neighbouring countries -Myanmar and India, said the experts.

“Bangladesh can produce seaweed commercially alongside the fisheries and other marine resources in a bid to unlock the full potential of the blue economy,” said Dr Md Kawser Ahmed, Professor of Oceanography Department at Dhaka University.

He said the contribution of seaweed is enormous not only to the economy but also to the environment and ecology.

Dr Subrata Sarker, Chair of Oceanography Department at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), said the seaweed farming is one of the fast-growing sectors in the world as the global production of seaweed has increased three times in the last two decades.

“Though some farmers collect seaweed, the market value chain is missing here in Bangladesh,” he said, adding that if Bangladesh can develop the sector, it would be able to earn huge foreign currency.

The global seaweed production increased from 10.6 million tonnes in 2000 to 32.4 million tonnes in 2018 and the global seaweed market is expected to be of US$ 22.13 billion by 2024, increasing from US$ 11.8 billion in 2018.

In Bangladesh, at least 10-11 species of seaweeds out of some 200 species recorded in the Bay of Bengal have bright prospects for commercial cultivation in the country, according to the two recent studies.