L
ace populations coastal areas of the Mexican Caribbean coexisted for decades with sargassum. From time to time he arrived at the coastal strip of Quintana Roo, Yucatán and the islands of Cozumel, Mujeres and Holbox. But in 2015, hotel owners, tourist service providers, merchants, public officials and fishermen from that region saw thousands of tons arrive. It was said then that it was due to the prolonged absence of hurricanes in the Caribbean, causing it to grow much more in volume and break away from its place of origin.
There are references to sargassum from the 15th century and the name was given to it by the Portuguese navigators, whose ships used to get trapped in the extensive green fields that it forms. It is the Sargasso Sea, located in the Atlantic Ocean and whose extension is almost as large as that of the United States: 3.5 million square kilometers. And although it descends from a type of algae that usually grows attached to rocks near the coast, it now floats in the ocean, where it reproduces and is home to numerous organisms.
When the sargassum decomposes on the beaches, it releases hydrogen sulfide, which causes a bad smell; It is ideal for the so-called sea flea to grow in it. In addition, the color of the water on the coast becomes cloudy and in large quantities it affects the corals and discomforts the skin of the people who come into contact with it.
It was impossible to collect in 2015 all that reached the shores of Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos and Tulum. The official instances recognized that they did not have any strategy to deal with the problem. Neither is Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Barbados, Antigua, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Jamaica and other countries of the Greater Caribbean where the algae also arrive massively.
The arrival also occurred in 2018, 2019, 2021 and so far this year. It is attributed to the change in ocean currents, more intense storms and the increase in sea temperature due to climate change. In 2015 we warned here that the economic activities on the coast of the Greater Caribbean, its inhabitants and tourism, had to get used to this unpleasant and growing presence; and that it was urgent to find a way to collect it and use it in the regeneration of the beaches; or as an input for various economic activities. Since then only a part has been collected.
The sargassum will not stop reaching the Caribbean coast of Mexico. That is why it is incredible that there is no comprehensive program to reduce the undesirable effects it causes. Since last February, it has arrived in enormous quantities, and no official body has dealt with taking up the proposals made in previous years by scientists, hoteliers, the public sector responsible for the environment, and international organizations. It should be remembered that half of the foreign currency that the country receives from tourism is generated in the coastal strip and the islands of Quintana Roo.
It is good to remember that in 2015 the head of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, Rafael Pacchiano, said that the federal government had allocated 70 million pesos to control the arrival of the algae. The Quintana Roo government said it needed 610 million. The objective: to remove it from the coastal strip and, offshore, establish safe containment fences to prevent the sargassum from reaching the mainland. Those fences would be placed at strategic points. According to its promoters, it was a temporary measure, safe, less expensive and did not affect marine species, nor did it pollute. They put some up and the first gentle storm blew them away.
The previous six-year term ended with unfulfilled promises and misusing a good part of the money dedicated to reducing the arrival of sargassum. At the beginning of the current federal administration, it seemed that the problem would finally have a solution, since President López Obrador led the work for that purpose. As part of them there were several meetings of the official instances with experts on marine issues, representatives of the countries of the Greater Caribbean, tourism entrepreneurs, fishermen. It was time to prevent the traveling algae from causing new ecological disasters. As we will see next Monday, the good intentions were carried away by the ocean waves.
