Growing appetite for seaweed

Sea of potential income: India has outlined ambitious plans to drastically ramp up and modernise its small-scale production of seaweed. — AFP

Adjusting their swimming goggles and wrapping their fingers in cloth to protect them from the jagged coral below, a group of women plunge into choppy waters off southern India to gather seaweed – their routine since childhood.

The work is hard, the days long and the earnings slim – selling the seaweed to industrial plants earns the average picker about 2,000 rupees (RM111) per month.