Peru's underwater forests

A 4x4 truck appears on a dirt road under the scorching summer sun and gets dangerously close to a cliff. Barely six feet from the abyss, it turns and takes a detour that takes it down to one of the many coves and beaches hidden among the rocks and cliffs along the coast of the region of Arequipa, in southern Peru.

There, two men take several piles of dried seaweed and load them into the vehicle, which can carry up to 2.5 tons. A few minutes later, they drive off along the same trail. They meander through the rugged terrain, without getting lost in the tangle of tracks left by other trucks and motorcycles of algae collectors who travel through the area to get seaweed from places that might seem impossible to reach. The 4x4 heads in the direction of the Pan-American Highway South — the asphalt artery that connects Peru from north to south. Its destination is one of the many milling plants in the region. These companies then export the dried seaweed as flour to the Asian giant, China.

The seaweed business has not slowed in Peru since the early years of the millennium, positioning the country as the second largest exporter of brown algae species in Latin America, second only to Chile. In 2003 exports were just over 3,000 tons. By 2022 exports increased to more than 50,000 tons, almost all harvested from the southern Peruvian regions.

What is the reason for this growth?

The brown algae species (sargassum, giant kelp, and grey weed) are rich in alginate, a kind of natural thickener or gel that Chinese industries use in various products, from cosmetics and pharmaceuticals to food preservatives, textiles and fertilizers. And nature has blessed the Peruvian south and Chilean north with the conditions for immense marine forests to proliferate in their waters.

Before 2000, seaweed in Peru did not generate interest among coastal artisanal fishermen. But it has gradually become an important and even primary source of income for many of them. They have now specialized in their extraction using illegal techniques such as barreteo, picks, or diving. Peruvian law only allows the gathering of what is washed up on the beaches. By chopping the underwater forests, the illegal algae farmers are affecting the delicate balance of the ecosystem on which shellfish, mollusks and fish depend.

According to fishermen who oppose illegal algae farmers, the activity has reduced the marine production that provides a wide range of seafood for local gastronomy: chitons, limpets, mussels, octopus, and certain species of fish can no longer be found or are scarce in markets and restaurants. The disappearance of algal meadows can also affect the production of oxygen and the elimination of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Earth's atmosphere because they produce between 50% and 85% of the oxygen that is released to the planet.

Seaweed Uses

	• They can be consumed as an additive to sauces, soups, jams, stews with meats, and even in candy.
	• As food for aquatic species, birds, or cattle.
	• They are used in the production of pharmaceuticals for cancer treatment, nutrition, and naturopathic therapies.
	• Seaweed extracts are used to reduce cholesterol and blood pressure.
	• They are used in the production of cosmetics and makeup.
	• Moisturizing creams.
	• For wrinkle treatment, sun protection, and hair care.
	• As agricultural fertilizers.
	• In the textile industry, algae are used to print color on fabrics.

Sixto Rojas is a leader of artisanal fishermen in the Caravelí province in northern Arequipa. Walking along the beaches of the Chala district, this short man with tanned skin explains that in the past, fishermen used to collect washed up algae to sell them to collectors who took them to Chile. There they were processed to be sent to China. "The production was minimal because it was not worth much and because here, we lived off fishing," he says.

But in 2008, an increase in the price of seaweed caused a boom, as the exported algae went from an average of $393 per ton in 2001 to $650 per ton in 2007. Chilean businessmen and Peruvian collectors asked artisanal fishermen for more seaweed and offered them more money. Suddenly, some Chilean and Chinese businessmen began setting up processing plants in the port of Matarani, in the Islay province in Arequipa, and then in the district of Atico, in Caravelí, to reduce transportation costs and export more easily. "Those algae that we send come back in the form of processed products that cost thousands more. They make cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and even fertilizers," Rojas says.

The growth of the business led to a proliferation of companies dedicated exclusively to seaweed harvesting and cutting. Peru went from having two large exporters in 2002 to more than ten in 2005. Today, there are more than 176 registered companies, with only a few large companies dominating the market. Some of these companies, according to investigations by local authorities as well as the sanctions that have been meted out, are the main promoters of illegal seaweed extraction.

One of the companies that contributed to the seaweed boom in the country was Algas Multiexport del Perú SAC. Created in 1997 with Chilean capital, it exported more than 32,000 tons until 2016. Faced with financial problems, the owners of the company changed the name to Sudamericana Empaque de Algas SAC and in October 2020 the Peruvian courts declared the company bankrupt and started the liquidation process. Today the company owes the Peruvian government $2.5 million in taxes. The company address is a building in Arequipa, but no one there has any contact information for company officials and there is no way to reach them.

Another of the former companies that exported large quantities of seaweed and was heavily fined was Crosland Tecnica SA, a business conglomerate that has interests in the automotive, real estate, restaurant, and railway sectors, as well as consumer goods such as seaweed. This company ventured into the export of algae from the 1990s to 2016. That year the Ministry of Production (PRODUCE) sanctioned Crosland for operating a seaweed chopping plant without having the equipment and instruments required by law. The company accepted the accusation and sought early termination in order to pay a modest fine of $ 4,000. The Ministry rejected the attempt and fined the company $18,000 in addition to suspending the company’s operating license.

Crosland Tecnica SA then transferred its interests in the algae business to its subsidiary Algaex SA, according to the business trajectory section on its website. Since then, the company has exported another 31,000 tons of seaweed with its three processing plants located in the Ica region. However, none of them appear in the PRODUCE's registry of fishing plants, which is the list of companies authorized to process marine products, such as algae or fish.

During the reporting of this story, a reporter requested an interview with a representative of the Ministry of Production (PRODUCE) on several occasions. When phone calls were not returned, the reporter sent a written request for an interview but had received no response as of the date of publication.

Total Peruvian exports of seaweed in 2022, as recorded by the National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration (SUNAT), was 50,635 tons. That is 14% more than in 2021 and 40% more than 2020 exports. Last year’s seaweed exports were almost double the 2017 level.

The rapid growth in exports is due to two factors, explains leader Sixto Rojas. The first is the algae farmers' willingness to harvest as much algae as they can if the price justifies it. And the second is that companies that process and export the algae promote harvesting regardless of whether the algae come from legal or illegal sources.

Luci Córdova is a resident of the district of Chala. She is neither a fisherwoman nor an algae farmer recognized by the local associations, but she collects the seaweed that the sea washes up on the beaches near her home. This 50-year-old woman is a single mother and has no formal job. She saw seaweed gathering as a way to earn a few soles. Whenever she can, she goes to the beach to collect seaweed with her children.

"Since we are not registered, the algae farmers take the algae we get and throw us away. We end up collecting waste, which they don't care about. We have asked to be allowed to join the association, but they ask for a lot of money and reject us. They have already taken over the beaches and we also know that they go to the coves, where it is difficult to access, and they plunder. We don't, we just collect,” says Luci, while showing the piles of seaweed that she has been gathering for more than two months and for which she will try to obtain at most the equivalent of $400.

Luci and her family sell the seaweed to a collector, who arrives when they least expect it and pays them in cash without asking for a certificate of origin (a document issued by PRODUCE that certifies that the seaweed was not obtained using illegal techniques) or an artisanal fisher registration card.

While in Arequipa and Ica the algae farmers, collectors, and companies exploit the underwater forests, in the Moquegua region, in the port of Ilo, the situation is totally different. There are only three algae farmers' associations with just 35 registered members, who collect seaweed in strict compliance with the provisions of the seaweed harvesting law. This law stipulates that only seaweed that is washed up by the sea can be harvested.

In Ilo, the illegal techniques of barreteo or cutting seaweed with hooks or by diving have been banned. José Zapata, leader of the Las Brisas Association, explains that before 2012 the algae farmers were mercilessly plundering the underwater forests, and they were also affecting other activities such as artisanal fishing and shellfish harvesting. "Since then, we have organized and there is a mutual agreement, not to cut the algae, but only to harvest them. The aim is to achieve a balance. We can make a profit without affecting the ecosystem," says Zapata.

This young leader says that the associations have sought ways to get more out of their activities by applying science and technology to their cultivation and harvesting methods. Zapata, for example, studied fishing engineering at the National University of Moquegua (UNAM) and was able to pay for his education by harvesting algae. He then began to specialize in algae farming and brought the idea to his association. With everyone's support, they were able to win grants awarded by the mining company Quellaveco as part of its social responsibility programs. In this way, Zapata and other seaweed farmers were able to receive training in Chile and then hire specialists to teach them the first steps in seaweed cultivation.

Nowadays, Las Brisas has an algae cultivation laboratory located in a facility belonging to the Ministry of Production, a few minutes from the Ilo port. There, Zapata and his colleague Esaú Calagua show the process they carry out. To cultivate yuyo seaweed, branches must be cut and then they stimulate their growth on raffia ropes that are taken to their "parcels" located on a nearby beach. There they have 18 lines of 328 feet each from which they can obtain about one ton per line twice a year. The seaweed they harvest was sold unprocessed to restaurants in the port city, but for the last two years they have taken their project a step further: they are adding value by generating edible and consumer products.

Zapata proudly shows the jam, seaweed flour, fertilizer and dehydrated seaweed that they are producing and that they are already selling in some stores and to companies, such as Quellaveco. "We are aiming to stop selling raw material as well as to generate a small industry around algae. And we are already getting customers who are requesting more products and for that we need to grow the magnitude of our crops. Now we must think as a company, to increase profitability," Zapata says from the association's office where he displays two pots of quince jam enriched with seaweed flour that sell for $4.

Meanwhile, in the remote Chala district of Arequipa, where seaweed farmers continue to exploit the seagrass meadows, Sixto Rojas dreams that one day his fellow countrymen and the regional authorities will implement a seaweed cultivation program to add value and generate a small industry for local sales and -- why not? -- for export.

"In this way, we would stop being predators and become agents of change. If we had a small industry, the algae farmers would stop plundering and would only take advantage of what is necessary to produce value-added products,” Rojas says as he watches the crimson sun disappearing into the horizon of the Pacific Ocean. “What we need is a technical approach, but we cannot achieve it alone. We need the regional authorities to get involved.”