Biosecurity policy and legislation of the seaweed aquaculture industry in Tanzania

Abstract

Pest and disease outbreaks have significant impacts on the livelihoods of seaweed farmers each year, particularly in low- to middle-income countries around the world. Commercial seaweed farming of the red carrageenophytes, Eucheuma denticulatum, Kappaphycus alvarezii and Kappaphycus striatus, in Tanzania was established in 1989. The impacts of pests and diseases on the local seaweed industry had serious implications for the environment, society, local culture and human health. The industry was initially characterised by growth, but since 2002 has been severely limited due to pest and disease outbreaks, exacerbated by the effects of climate change. This paper identifies existing biosecurity frameworks in Tanzanian legislation and policies in order to assess their content regarding the management of pests and diseases in the seaweed industry. A total of thirteen frameworks were identified and analysed for their general biosecurity scope and inclusion of specific risks. Of the thirteen, only four were legally binding, and only four were identified to be applicable to the seaweed industry. National frameworks were predominantly designed to support finfish aquaculture; therefore, national authorities lack the expertise, experience and scientific basis on biosecurity issues in seaweed industry compared with other aquatic commercial commodities to identify and mitigate the risks from pest and disease outbreaks in the seaweed farming industry. Recommendations are provided to assist regulators in establishing biosecurity policies, which either explicitly include or are specifically designed, to support the Tanzanian seaweed industry. This analysis reveals where biosecurity capacity can be developed to support a sustainable and economically productive national seaweed farming industry.

Exploring, harnessing and conserving marine genetic resources towards a sustainable seaweed aquaculture

“…Meta-barcoding evidence suggests the existence of a hidden diversity of pathogens that are yet to be described (Badis et al, 2019). Despite the well-documented lessons learnt from the aforementioned oyster and crustacean industries, these examples and subsequent assessments, highlight a comparative lack of biosecurity awareness and implementation in the seaweed industry at both an international (Campbell et al, 2019) and national level (Kambey et al, 2020;Mateo et al, 2020;Rusekwa et al, 2020).…”

Seaweed aquaculture: a preliminary assessment of biosecurity measures for controlling the ice-ice syndrome and pest outbreaks of a Kappaphycus farm

“…Effective biosecurity measures should, therefore, require a comprehensive understanding of every stage in the farming process, including the introduction pathways of the caustic agents for ice-ice syndrome and pests. The critical control points on the Kappaphycus farm should be identified to inform management decisions, particularly in an industry such as eucheumatoid farming, which currently has minimal biosecurity-related policy and guidance (Mateo et al 2020;Rusekwa et al 2020;Kambey et al 2020a).…”

“…As a consequence, the production of eucheumatoid seaweeds declined by 10% in Indonesia andMalaysia in 2018 (FAO 2020). Minimal biosecurity guidance and regulations in the majority of countries producing seaweeds in South-East Asia and globally have also exacerbated the problem of the ice-ice syndrome and pest outbreaks in the seaweed eucheumatoid industry (Campbell et al 2020;Mateo et al 2020;Rusekwa et al 2020;Kambey et al 2020a).…”

“…In eucheumatoid farming, however, effective management practices for reducing the risk of the ice-ice syndrome and pest outbreaks are lacking. Very few quarantine procedures exist, the farming guidelines contain minimal biosecurity-related guidance, no surveillance methods for controlling outbreaks on the farm exist and there are no standardised methods of ensuring the health quality of the harvested Kappaphycus/Eucheuma crop (Sulu et al 2004;Azanza and Ask 2017;Rusekwa et al 2020;Mateo et al 2020). Currently, the existing measures include the use of a commercial fertiliser and biostimulants to improve seaweed health (DOFM 2012;Yong et al 2014;Loureiro et al 2017;Ali et al 2020), but these measures, however, do not offer any control or mitigation measures for the ice-ice syndrome or pest occurrence and there is a general lack of biosecurity concern regarding wider environmental sustainability.…”

Ice‐Ice disease: An environmentally and microbiologically driven syndrome in tropical seaweed aquaculture

“…6 On the coast of Tanzania and the Zanzibar archipelago, eucheumatoid cultivation indirectly supports 31,000 farmers, the majority of whom are women, with the proceeds contributing to an increase in living standards for themselves and their dependents. 7 The expansion of eucheumatoid cultivation, particularly in regions outside the native geographical range of commercial species, has not been without problems. Coastal ecosystems located both directly at the site of cultivation and adjacent to farms may be affected.…”