Sargassum project underway
Channel: Saint Lucia Government
Date: 2022-06-30

Saint Lucia remains focused on putting sargassum to use for commercial purposes particularly in communities that have been negatively impacted by massive buildups of decaying seaweed. Since 2011, the picturesque coastlines of several Caribbean states have been marred by periodic massive influxes of sargassum, resulting in substantial economic losses and adverse impacts on human and environmental health.

The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism and the New Zealand Institute of Plant and Food Research are embarking on a project to confirm what products would be most suitable to make from the sargassum. It is expected that Saint Lucia will be provided with equipment and machinery to help support the removal of sargassum and channel it for commercial purposes.

The project will take some time, in terms of planning and grant funding but is expected to result in long term solutions to the problem of decaying sargassum build up.