Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Authorities say they are making sargassum removal along Cancun, Riviera Maya beaches permanent. The permanent removal will now be done year round after the recent arrival of out-of-season seaweed.
Earlier this month, strong winds left areas of the coast covered in seaweed, something that was considered out of season since sargassum does not typically start to arrive until the Spring.
The untimely arrival of seaweed was forced onto some state beaches due to weather conditions. The Mexican Navy, who are in charge of at-sea sargassum collection, said they removed 178 tons during those three days of strong winds.
That was on top of the 400 tons manually removed from Playa del Carmen and 220 tons forked off Isla Mujeres beaches by Zofemat staff, among other affected beaches from Cancun to Mahahual. The Navy says with this, they made the decision to make sargassum collection a permanent strategy rather than a seasonal one.
“Given the decision to maintain the strategy at the beginning of 2026, approximately 178.01 tons of sargassum have been collected this year in the municipalities of Isla Mujeres, Benito Juárez (Cancun), Puerto Morelos, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and along the beaches of Mahahual and Xcalak, in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco,” they reported.
The government will move forward with the implementation of the Sargassum Response Strategy in coordination with the Navy “with the objective of mitigating the negative effects of this seaweed on the environment, tourism and society along the coast of the state of Quintana Roo,” the Secretaría de Marina added.
In a statement, they said “it should be noted that the aforementioned strategy is implemented annually and, given the atypical arrival that occurred during 2025, it remains permanently implemented in 2026, so the different stages are maintained: collection, withdrawal to 50% for maintenance, currently the preparation phase and ready to move on to the deployment and collection stage, as soon as the weather conditions warrant it.
“In this context, during 2025 the Secretariat of the Navy in coordination with the Government of the state of Quintana Roo, the business sector and the civilian population, joined efforts in a historic season, achieving the collection of approximately 92,783 tons of said algae, a record figure compared to previous years.
“To continue these actions, 16 surface units are currently employed including one ocean-going Sargassum Vessel, 11 coastal Sargassum Vessels and four amphibious Sargassum Vessels. Additionally, 16 smaller support vessels are available along with 9,500 meters of containment barriers.
“An additional 6,000 meters of barriers are planned for implementation in coordination with the State Government. These barriers are removed in some areas during cold front season as a preventative measure and are currently being relocated for maintenance, cleaning, repairs, and component replacement to ensure their proper functioning.
“At the end of the cold front season, they will be redeployed to the required areas.”
Meetings have been held with government officials and businesses in order to standardize the criteria for the preparation of the sargassum arrival and the reports of sargassum collection in the 2026 Season.
Similarly, meetings have also been held with staff from the State Center for Environmental Monitoring, the Executive Directorate of Oceanographic and Atmospheric Research and Monitoring and the Gulf and Caribbean Oceanographic Institute of the Secretariat of the Navy, in order to discuss issues related to improvements in the issuance of sargassum biomass monitoring bulletins in the Caribbean Sea.
It should be noted that they are currently employing preventive actions, monitoring weather conditions to ensure the deployment of surface units and the installation of barriers, in order to continue with the collection and containment of sargassum.
The union of coordinated efforts and commitment of the different entities involved from the municipal, state and federal levels has resulted in better coordination and improvement in the implementation of the strategy to mitigate the effects of this algae on the coasts of the Mexican Caribbean.
Riviera Maya News serving Quintana Roo Mexico since 2014
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