Passing through the highway traversing Alacan village in San Fabian town in Pangasinan province, one cannot ignore the peculiar smell of seaweeds being dried by fishermen by the roadside. Seaweeds harvesting has spurred alternative economic activities in this coastal town. “The villagers have been gathering seaweeds even when I was a boy,” Cristobal Ibasan, 61, said as he flipped over the seaweeds he was drying.

Sotelo, Y. (2014, March 12). Overharvesting perils seaweeds. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A14.