SAN BENITO, Surigao del Norte, Philippines — Holding a bunch of brown seaweeds, Coreta Espanso proudly relates that her cultivation of the marine algae helped fund her second child's completion of a college degree last year. Like Espanso, most women of Sitio Campinganon, an islet in Barangay Maribojoc on Siargao Island, tend seaweed farms to help augment their husbands' income from fishing hence, it was more of a secondary livelihood activity. The situation changed after Supertyphoon Odette (international name: Rai) struck Siargao in December 2021 when their husbands' fishing gear was destroyed, and there were no off-fishing jobs available in the local tourism circuit.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1756941/siargao-fishers-rediscover-economic-boon-in-seaweeds

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