Sargassum a Nuisance for Caribbean Tourism But Locals See Opportunity

In Mexico’s Quintana Roo state, home to Cancun and Tulum, locals sail out to drag rafts full of brown seaweed to shore and out of sight for tourists. When it washes ashore, the seaweed, known as sargassum, turns black and emits a stench so powerful it has been known to make travelers ill. It also attracts insects and turns the area’s waters brown. In Quintana Roo alone, Mexico’s Navy since March has removed more than 37,000 tons of sargassum from beaches and surrounding waters. Despite its nuisance, entrepreneurs across the region are searching for ways to monetize the plant, experimenting with seaweed-based products including animal feed, fuel, construction material, even signature cocktails. “Sargassum is seen as a nuisance,” said Srinivasa Popuri, an environmental scientist in Barbados with the University of the West Indies. He views the Caribbean as “blessed” with a resource that grows naturally and requires no land or other inputs to flourish.

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