Guadeloupe indicated on Monday February 6 that it feared “a dark year” concerning the groundings of sargassum, a brown algae invading the coasts of the Caribbean and whose quantity has reached a record level offshore.
” We expect a dark year “, explained to AFP Sylvie Gustave Dit Duflo, vice-president of the Guadeloupe region in charge of environmental issues. According to the University of South Florida (USF) Monthly Bulletin, the amount of sargassum in the Atlantic Ocean doubled from December to January, setting a ” record to 8.7 million tonnes.
After they wash up on the shores, these algae release rotting nauseous and toxic fumes, prohibiting access to large stretches of the coast. Sargassum mats also suffocate biodiversity, hamper navigation and harm tourism. The previous record dates back to 2018, with 6.5 million tons, according to the USF. That year, the massive sargassum groundings had many consequences on the economic life of the affected areas.
Faced with this scourge, the government adopted a second Sargassum plan in March 2022, endowed with 36 million euros over four years. The Overseas Ministry announced on Monday that it had brought together the actors of the Sargassum plan to see the progress of the ” fight against this calamity “.
The question of the storage of these algae
At the end of January, the region, the department, the chamber of commerce and industry and the State ratified the principle of a public interest group, which must be financed by the Sargassum plan. ” For the time being, it is the municipalities that manage groundings, but the intensification of the phenomenon and the small means of these municipalities do not allow good management. “, clarified Sylvie Gustave Dit Duflo. Especially since expensive equipment will be tested, in particular dams intended to avoid strandings on the beaches and to facilitate collection at sea.
There is also the question of the recovery of seaweed, and beforehand, of their storage, because, according to the elected official, the spreading land is saturated. A study by the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research pointed out “ direct impact “Sargassum storage, ” via the presence of arsenic and water salinization “.
The causes of the proliferation of Sargassum over the past dozen years have not been established with certainty and continue to be the subject of studies.
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(With AFP)