Reinvigorating the Philippine Seaweed Industry: Institutional Dynamics and Structural Constraints from IAD, SES, & ECR Perspectives

Abstract

The Philippine Ocean is among the world’s most productive marine ecosystems and a critical pillar of the country’s economy. Seaweed farming, a major coastal livelihood and export commodity, reached a historic peak of 1.84 million metric tons in 2011 but declined by 17% by 2020. This study assesses the decline through a multi-perspective lens, integrating ecological sustainability, economic productivity, institutional governance, and social resilience dimensions. Using peer-reviewed literature, national production data, policy documents, and key informant interviews, the study applies the Socio-Ecological Systems (SES), Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD), and Environmental Resource Conflict (ECR) frameworks to identify interacting stressors across environmental and governance scales. Findings indicate that climate variability, disease outbreaks ( epiphytism and ice-ice), global market volatility, exploitative trade intermediation, non-standardized farming practices, and weak technical and financial support systems collectively undermine productivity and value capture. From a resilience perspective, institutional fragmentation and inadequate marine spatial integration exacerbate vulnerabilities within coastal communities. This proposes a systems-based framework emphasizing R&D for climate-resilient strains, value-chain upgrading and branding, strengthened local government capacity, integrated land–sea planning, and prioritization of seaweed as a priority crop. The findings contribute to environmental resilience discourse and sustainable resource governance in archipelagic developing states.