MACRO-EPIPHYTES AND ITS EFFECT ON THE GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND CARRAGEENAN YIELD OF Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) IN ZONE 6 BRGY. BULA, GENERAL SANTOS CITY AND BAYBAY KAWAS, ALABEL SARANGANI PROVINCE

The effect of macro-cpiphytes on commercial seaweed K. alvarezii was determined in 45 days of experiment. Environmental parameters such as temperature, salinity, pll, Dissolved Oxygen and Turbidity were also measured. Three floating rafts Were established in Zone 6 Bula, General Santos City and Baybay Kawas, Alabel Sarangani Province. Each raft consists of four 3m ropes with 15 seedlings. Sampling was done every after 7", 15", 30", and 45" day. A total of four (4) species belonging to three (3) Families and 15 species belonging to the 9 Families of macro-epiphytes were identified in Bula and Kawas Seaweed Farm, respectively. The Daily Growth Rate (DGR) of A. alvarezii in Bula Farm ranged from 2.7-4.5 % day and 1.7-4.3% day™ in Kawas Farm. Carrageenan yield in Bula ranged from 0.5%-1.0% and 0.4%-0.9% in Kawas. Bula has higher growth rate and carrageenan yield than Kawas. Results showed that macro-epiphytes have negative correlation on both growth rate (Bula= -0.39, Kawas- -0.79) and carrageenan yield (Bula= -0.59, Kawas= -0.63) of K. alvarezii implying an inverse relationship. The greater the abundance of macro-epiphytes, the lower the growth rate and carrageenan yield. Statistics (t-test) showed that there is a significant difference (P<0.05) between macro-epiphytes and growth rate, and macro- epiphytes and carrageenan yield on both areas. Among the measured parameters in Bula, only salinity has a positive correlation (r=0.85) with the occurrence of macro-epiphytes whereas in Kawas, only Dissolved oxygen has a positive correlation (r-0.17). It is recommended that seaweed fanning should not be done near the mariculture or aquaculture area because nutrients could cause the bloom of macro-epiphytes which can affect growth and carrageenan yield of Kappaphycus alvarezii.