Riviera Maya, Q.R. — The Quintana Roo government says they are preparing a new strategy to combat sargassum to lessen its impact. As of May 11, more than 36,000 tons of seaweed has been collected from the Quintana Roo coast.
State Governor Mara Lezama says there is constant monitoring of all beaches so personnel can to immediately as the seaweed arrives.
Governor Lezama said Friday that in coordination with the federal government, they will soon launch a new comprehensive strategy to combat sargassum. The new strategy involves collecting greater amounts at-sea, stopping it from reaching beaches.
Lezama explained that plans are underway to incorporate a larger sargassum collection vessel, which will drastically increase collection capacity. The larger vessel will be used in conjunction with more containment barriers.
“We have some projects in addition to what we already have with the sargassum vessels, which will mean an internal reconstruction for greater efficiency and another new vessel that is larger with a greater collection capacity.
“We are also verifying another strategy with barriers for other deeper points in Quintana Roo in addition to those we already have.
“As of May 11, we have collected 36,000 tons of sargassum. With the arrival of the new vessel that is three times larger and has greater capacity, we will collect even more.
“The goal is to minimize the amount of sargassum reaching the beaches,” Lezama explained.
She acknowledged that it is a very costly proposal and that the state is waiting on things such as cost and availability of vessels. She says her government is working with federal authorities to determine if there are more vessels available or if more need to be built.
She says while there is a real situation regarding the landing of sargassum, many of the images being used to describe the sargassum situation today are from years ago.
“Not every beach has sargassum every day,” she clarified since its arrival is affected by weather and sea currents.
“It is a natural phenomenon that will subside. There will be years with more, others with less, but the objective is that we are developing a strategy to combat it.”
