Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) 250-2 will allow individual fishermen to collect, sell, trade, and transport Sargassum, a type of brown seaweed, subject to seasonal restrictions and permit requirements. The newly-published order from the Bureau and Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) amends FAO 250-2 series of 2014 under former BFAR Director Asis G. Perez, which had banned was imposed on the collection, harvesting, selling, and export of Sargassum, which is cultivated as food in parts of Asia and can be used as fertilizer, animal feed and cosmetics, among others. Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines (SIAP) Chairman Maximo A. Ricohermoso, in a text message to BusinessWorld, said that “The FAO No. 250-2, series of 2018, is quite comprehensive covering the allowable gathering, transport, processing, and usage of Sargassum.”

Ignacio, R. J. N. (2018, October 8). Fisheries bureau partly lifts ban on collecting seaweed. BusinessWorld, p. S2/6.