Puerto Morelos, Q.R. — Mayor Blanca Merari Tziu Muñoz says more than 1,400 tons of sargassum has been collected from Puerto Morelos beaches in three months. That figure could have been a lot higher, however, Marina personnel intercepted a 400 ton flow of seaweed off the Puerto Morelos-Playa del Carmen coast.
She says the successful collection efforts have been possible due to the support of the Secretaría de Marina (Semar) and the state government.
“In Puerto Morelos we are committed to keeping our beaches clean of sargassum which is why April to June, we collected more than 1,400 tons. The beaches are clean in order to offer Puerto Morelos residents and visitors attractive beaches for their enjoyment,” said Blanca Merari Tziu Muñoz.
She said the state government has provided support with a heads-up of incoming sargassum that amounted to approximately 400 tons collected at sea.
With notice through the state’s Sargassum Monitoring Centre, a Marina sargassum trawler intercepted the seaweed during the week of July 21 that was heading toward the Playa del Carmen-Puerto Morelos stretch of coast.
Once the sargassum gets within a specific range of the coast, the vessels head out to collect it, preventing it from making landfall.
According to Merari Tziu, during the week of July 21, “the sargassum trawler collected more than 400 tons of the macroalgae heading toward the coast.”
She reported that the sargassum season typically runs from April to October but that the May to August period is considered the peak period. “The strategy implemented has yielded positive results, protecting the municipality’s beaches with the placement of the sargassum barrier and allowing tourism to continue,” she said.
Gerardo Rosas García, the Director of the Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone (Zofemat) of Puerto Morelos, explained that during the period from April to June of this year, at least three extensive days of collecting macroalgae have been carried out with his staff in addition to the support of 100 collaborators from various areas of the City Council along with Marina elements, independent of the daily collection of seaweed.
The official mentioned that cleanup campaigns have also been organized on the beaches in collaboration with the hotel industry.
