The government and stakeholders of the seaweed industry in Western Mindanao are set to put up seaweed seedling and gene banks in the province of Tawi-Tawi in the middle of this year. Maria Jaqueline M. Carrasco, executive director of the Western Mindanao Seaweed Industry Development Foundation Inc., told Business World that construction of the seaweed seedling production system is part of commitment signed by several governments agencies and industry's stakeholders during last year's 7th Mindanao Seaweed Congress held here. She said among the agencies that signed the commitment are the Seaweed Foundation, Department of Science and Technology (DoST), Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Department of Agriculture, regional offices of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Zamboanga Peninsula and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Zamboanga State Colleg of Marine Science and Technology, Mindanao State University in Tawi-Tawi, Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM), and Tawi-Tawi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Wee, D. T. (2007, April 19). Seaweed seedling, gene banks to be established in Tawi-Tawi. BusinessWorld, p. S1/6.