Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Strong winds with the arrival of cold fronts has sargassum on the minds of many. While it has not accumulated to any great degree on local beaches, it has been seen pushed into area waters due to winds.
During the last cold front, Cozumel reported collecting over 7.5 tons of it after it was pushed onto their west coast. Josefina Huguette Hernández Gómez, the head of the Ministry of the Environment says with that in mind, around 100 million pesos will be spent this year on project to combat sargassum.
The head of the Secretaria de Ecología y Medio Ambiente del estado de Quintana Roo explained that one of the fundamental pillars of this project will be to install marine barriers, structures designed to intercept the sargassum before it reaches the shore.
These barriers act as a first line of defense, capturing the sargassum at sea and preventing it from reaching the beaches. Part of the the investment money will go toward the installation and maintenance of these structures along the coast.
In addition, measures will be implemented for the collection and proper disposal of the seaweed that does reach the beach. Crews will clean and remove the sargassum to minimize its impact on tourism and coastal ecosystems.
Hernández Gómez highlighted that another part of the investment will be allocated to the research and development of environmentally friendly technologies for the management of sargassum. This will include methods of recycling and reusing the algae.
The Secretary of the Environment expressed confidence that this approach will allow the sargassum challenge to be faced effectively and will guarantee the preservation of beaches.
In February, Lourdes Várguez, the Secretary of Sustainable Environment and Climate Change of Solidaridad (Playa del Carmen) said the municipality will be testing specialized German technology this year to turn sargassum into fuel.
