Wilfred Luiramo walks the shallows of Solomon Islands’ Western Province every morning, clearing overnight debris from his seaweed stakes and checking each line. Lately, he’s had to wait. Continuous rain has kept his crop from drying, and seaweed that can’t dry can’t be packaged or sold.
Luiramo owns Haleta Seaweed, a local enterprise that provides employment for many families. “When the seaweed products are slow to dry, we cannot package and sell them,” he said. “This affects the income of everyone in the community.”
A Small-Business Squeeze
The weather pressure is arriving on a large scale. China’s National Climate Centre has said the 2026-27 El Niño is developing rapidly and could become the strongest since instrumental records began. Forecasters warn it could become a “super” event. Sea surface temperatures in the central-eastern equatorial Pacific ran more than 2.5°C above normal in the first half of August.
For aquaculture farmers in Solomon Islands, Fiji and Palau, the effects are showing up in seaweed, fish, mud crab and giant clam production. Their traditional knowledge of when to plant, harvest, dry or wait has become less dependable. “The weather pattern keeps changing and it’s impossible to predict,” Luiramo said.
Tropical Cyclone Maila destroyed every seaweed farm in his community in April. Low tides have also lasted past their usual window. “The normal low tide period is around June,” he said. “But for this year, we still experience low tide from June, July, and August.”
The income at stake represents real money in these economies. Aquaculture generates an estimated US$130-180 million a year across the Pacific Islands, roughly 0.5 per cent of regional GDP. In Solomon Islands, fisheries and aquaculture account for 7 per cent of national GDP. Seaweed farmers in Wagina can earn US$1,200 a month, against a national average annual income of US$800. Fiji’s tilapia-farming households can earn US$1,600 gross and about US$700 net per production cycle. Wild mud crab fishers in Fiji, 88 per cent of them Indigenous women, can earn 60-70 Fijian dollars a week, money that pays school fees and daily needs.
Adapting on Their Own Initiative
The farmers aren’t waiting for rescue. Katarina Senabu Baleisuva, Tilapia Farmer of the Year at Fiji’s National Women in Agriculture Awards, feeds her fish three times a day and watches water quality closely. Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia arrived in Fiji in 1998, 28 years ago, and Fiji is now the Pacific’s largest tilapia producer. It turns out about 400 tonnes a year across more than 350 farms, mostly subsistence and semi-commercial.
“When it’s very hot, the water level goes down,” Baleisuva said. “And when the rains come, the water turns very cold and sometimes the ponds flood.” Her answer is diversification. “I cannot rely on aquaculture alone. I have to do both agriculture and aquaculture.” With some government support, she’s dug more ponds to store water for dry spells, and she’s dug boreholes to reach groundwater.
Tarusila Veibi, a Fiji mud crab farmer, describes dry, cold, windy weather that’s killing trees and dropping river levels. She rotates her cattle to find green pasture and plants crops in swampy areas that haven’t dried out. In Palau, giant clam farmer Patty Kloulechad says warm water and low rainfall have accelerated algae growth that smothers her clams. Her community has timed cage cleaning to the lowest tides and is switching to weather-resilient crops.
Luiramo has changed his routine to seize brief spells of sunshine. “When there is sunlight, we have to be there. We cannot waste any time.” He wants seaweed farmers to diversify into short-term crops such as cabbage, aubergine and tomatoes. “For those of us on the islands, we don’t have many options, but we need to build resilience,” he said.
The Ask of Government
The farmers do want a partner. “We really need to work together with the government,” Baleisuva said, adding that many rural farmers are left behind and their voices aren’t heard. She said she’s “finding it difficult to find financial support, for my aquaculture especially.”
Luiramo said community solidarity has kept seaweed farming alive in his area for around 40 years, despite inconsistent commercial or government support. He called for policy reform. “The existing gaps between government and communities delay responses to farmers’ needs,” he said. “We need policies that can integrate local knowledge, seaweed farming expertise, and scientific research.”
Their advice to others is practical. “Try to work smart. Don’t rely on one commodity but do integrated farming,” Baleisuva said. Kloulechad pointed to experience: “We have been in El Niño conditions before. We try to review past strategies, adapt successful practices to our current situation, and conserve our existing resources.”
Why This Matters:
These are small, owner-operated businesses, and they sit on thin margins. A Fiji tilapia household nets about US$700 a cycle, and a crab fisher earns 60-70 Fijian dollars a week. A single bad season can erase that. The farmers’ own responses are diversification, water storage and flexible scheduling, and all of them cost money up front. Baleisuva says financial support is hard to find, and Luiramo says official responses lag. From a center-right view, the open question is whether governments can make credit and clear, timely policy available without crowding out the initiative these farmers are already showing. With a possible “super” El Niño building, the time to answer is short.