Maiden Seaweed Harvest in Puducherry Turns Huge Success Under ICAR-CMFRI Guidance
Success Story
Maiden Seaweed Harvest in Puducherry Turns Huge Success Under ICAR-CMFRI Guidance
The first-ever seaweed farming initiative in Puducherry Union Territory under the guidance of the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has yielded a remarkable achievement. The maiden harvest held at Pannithitu on 19th November 2025 turned into a huge success with a significant 3.5 times growth. The successful harvest demonstrates the immense potential of seaweed farming as a viable and profitable venture for local fisher communities in Puducherry, especially for fisherwomen.
This pioneering effort is part of a one-year project titled 'Farming of commercially important marine finfishes in sea cages integrated with seaweeds at Puducherry,' funded by the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, Government of Puducherry, and executed by Mandapam Regional Centre of ICAR-CMFRI. The project commenced on April 16, 2025, and is set to run until April 15, 2026.
Seaweed farming was formally launched on September 30, 2025, with a flagging-off ceremony at Pannithitu in Puducherry district. The ceremony was officiated by Dr. D. Manikandan, IAS, Secretary to the Honourable Lt. Governor and Secretary to the Department of Fisheries & Fishermen Welfare.
The project deployed a total of 16 HDPE seaweed rafts integrated with one 6-meter diameter HDPE sea cage across three locations in the Union Territory: Pannithitu, Karukkalacherry, and Pattinacheri.
The technique used for the Puducherry coast was the HDPE-based tube-net method, which is suitable for rough sea conditions. A total of 16 HDPE rafts (12.5 × 12.5 ft) were deployed. The rafts were foam-filled, and an innovative support structure was provided at the centre. For anchoring, eight rafts were secured using a 13 mm iron chain connected to five anchor stones weighing 150 kg each.
Each raft carried 10 tube-nets and the tube-nets were fabricated from fishnet material (50 mm mesh size, 1 mm thickness) of dimensions 4 × 1 m (circumference of 30 cm). Each tube-net was seeded with an average 3.5 kg of Kappaphycus alvarezii (a red algae) seed material, transported from Karaikal. A total of six fisherwomen from the Pannithitu Fishermen Cooperative society with the support of village Panchayat carried out the farming activities. These beneficiaries were trained on cage-fish culture and seaweed farming at the Mandapam Regional Centre of ICAR-CMFRI.
Maiden Harvest and Economic Success
The maiden harvest, a culmination of the seven-week culture period took place on 19th November 2025, achieved a notable 3.5 times growth, translating to a total harvested biomass of 1,920 kg of fresh seaweed. With a sale price of ?20 per kg of fresh weight, the total revenue generated amounted to ?38,400/-.
The harvest was witnessed by key dignitaries, including the Minister of Fisheries, Puducherry, Thiru. K. Lakshminarayanan, and Thiru. Lakshmikandan, MLA. They interacted with the fisherwomen involved. Dr. Johnson, Principal Investigator explained in detail to them about the progress of the project.
Dr.K. Vinod, Head, Mandapam Regional Centre, Dr. Charles Jeeva and staff of Madaras Regional Station, Shri. A. Mohamad Ismail, Director of Fisheries, Shri. K. Deivasigamani Joint Director of Fisheries, Thiru. G. Rajendiran and Smt. N. Shajima, Deputy Director of Fisheries, Puducherry and local fishers participated the event.
