Sustainable Sea Moss Farming Project

Tavio Simmons’ journey into entrepreneurship begins with a peculiar product: sea moss. Also called Irish moss, the algae is commonly harvested to produce carrageenan—an ingredient used to thicken products like ice cream and plant-based milk. It’s a valuable export to the coastal towns of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, including the 7-square-mile island of Bequia, where Tavio lives. Read more …..

A graduate of the University of Trinidad & Tobago, Tavio is the youth director of Constructive Solutions Inc.—an organization working to develop the “Responsible Sea Moss farming and production project.” The project's goal is to sustainably increase sea moss farming in Bequia and financially empower locals in the community by training them to work in the sea moss trade. 

Tavio is particularly interested in data science and collection and is determined to use data analysis to study the program’s sustainability and influence sea farming policy.

“Though we have the knowledge and techniques needed to continue planting the sea moss, it won’t be sustainable if steps aren't implemented to ensure the proper monitoring and evaluation of the program,” Tavio says. “I grew up seeing the village men on my island going to the sea to reap this marine plant from corals. Now with the knowledge I have, I would like to turn this into an enterprise where the same villagers can benefit.”

Tavio’s grant from Hunter’s Fund will go towards investments in data collecting technology, including equipment that will increase the organization’s capacity for data gathering.