[Seaweed farming]

It was only in 1994 seaweed farming was introduced to the islands of Kiritimati (Christmas Is.) and Tabuaeran (Fanning Is.). The seaweed aquaculture from these two islands now comes to about 1000 MT per annum. Seaweed farming now returns over AUS $ 380,000 per annum in farmer payments. By 1997 over 420 people were receiving income from seaweed farming.

On Tabuaeran seaweed has now replaced copra as the main source of income for over 70% of all households. The new seaweed-based economy has also ensured the success of the resettlement policy of the Kiribati Government. This is a good model for aquaculture of seaweed in other atolls in the Pacific region.