sargassum

The growing invasion of sargassum in the Caribbean has impacted the quality of life of the islands' residents. But local governments and some of their metropolises have so far failed to coordinate an international response to address the problem, which scientists believe is triggered by global pollution, the climate crisis, and a shortage of funds to mitigate it.

Despite the millions in funds invested in mitigation and research projects, celebrating summits and agreements, health problems related to sargassum increasingly affect people living on the French Caribbean islands.

Sargassum cleanup efforts, often paid for by Caribbean hotels and tourism businesses, were estimated at nearly $210 million in 2021, a figure some researchers believe is an underestimate.

The absorption of sargassum in desalination plants and power generation plants has caused citizens in the British Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico to get cut off from these essential services for days. That or they get smelly tap water. But the governments of the three islands have fallen short in implementing mitigation and management plans for these invasive algae.

Since 2011, fishermen throughout the Caribbean have faced production declines due to sargassum. In Jamaica, one of the top 10 fish-consuming countries in the region, fishermen saw a 36% decline in current catch tons in 2017 compared to 1990.

Beach erosion, heightened stress on coral reefs and marine fauna species threatened by the accumulation of algae that prevents them from moving are some of the implications of the extreme flow of sargassum on the Caribbean coasts.

Biofuel, bricks, paper, beauty products and even a carbon capture system, are some of the options that researchers, scientists, and entrepreneurs in the Caribbean are experimenting as solutions to address the sargassum crisis, but there are still no large-scale solutions.