Alternative resilient livelihood option for fisher-folks tsunami victims

will get much better prices. Exposure to the sun or heat during transport should be avoided to insure
the freshness of the produce. During transport, it was not always possible to keep the seaweed wet
and cool
Siganus sp is the main grazers and they can literally wipe out Gracilaria culture (Coppen, 1990).
However Siganus lineatus and Siganus javus severely grazed Gracilaria and reduced the net harvest.
It appears that juvenile Siganus are largely to blame. The fish began entering the plots, as evidenced
by grazed seaweed. During our farming period we observed that Siganus were less than 100 g, with
the majority below 40 grams. Clearly, the seaweed farms were sited on the feeding grounds of the
juveniles of the principal grazing species. Two methods were performed to protect the Gracilaria
from Siganus sp were tested in Paalameenmadu. First, a net enclosure was made around the farming
area traps. They are placed inside fenced plots. The second method involves making scare lines
made of pieces of Palmyrah leaves. However, Siganus sp swam over the scare line and into the farm
plot and all the seaweed was eaten by Siganus sp. These scare lines were totally ineffective. But the
net enclosure fence had to be buried in the sandy bottom to prevent it from lifting off the bottom by
water current and prevent to allowing the entry of grazer. The fence effectively excluded Siganus sp
at Paalamenmadu. A few entered under the fence, but could be controlled with traps. It revealed that
more trials are to be conducted to find the alternative sites. Small unidentified mollusks were
frequently observed on planted lines and could have grazed on the few plants which germinated.
During the culture period spores are fell down to the bottom and grew as a new Gracilaria bed and
attract more herbivorous fish like Mugil cephalus, and Siganus sp. This will stimulate fish stock to
remain hidden. These grounds act as feeding and spawning ground to many fish in this way enhance
fish stock as well as it could be maintain ecological balance and dynamics. Assessment of
commercial feasibility requires both long-term trials and sufficient production capacity to evaluate
economic and technical costs.
The results from crab fattening indicated that the fattening of crabs is possible growth and survival
can be achieved through proper management. In this experiment, the mean survival percentage was
88% and mean mortality was 12%. The mortality was at an acceptable level and it was experienced
at the initial stages of the fattening. These initial mortalities occurred during the first ten days could
be due to a highly stressed new environment and poor handling during collection and transport. In
crab fattening systems, mortality may also be caused by poor quality of water at the bottom of the
mud. But in the floating cage system, this type of mortalities cannot be expected. Table 2 provides
the data regarding the growth, survival, and production of crabs.