Following the Riviera Maya Hotel Association’s intention to disengage from the financial burden of cleaning up sargassum, a total of eight municipalities in the Mexican Caribbean have pledged to its effective removal and disposal until December 15, 2024.
Municipalities committed to cleaning up to 100 popular beaches include Cozumel, Solidaridad, Isla Mujeres, Benito Juárez, Tulum, Puerto Morelos, Cozumel, Benito Juárez, Othón P. Blanco, Lázaro Cárdenas and Tulum, according to the Secretariat of Ecology and Environment (SEMA) of Quintana Roo.
Nevertheless, such actions may be unnecessary considering that the Mexican Caribbean will be sargassum-free for the next six months, according to satellite observations.
“We won’t have sargassum at least until the end of the year. That means we won’t see sargassum for another six or seven months. It’s possible, however, that we will have an early arrival in 2025 around January or February with a peak in April or May,” said hydrobiologist Esteban Amaro, director of the Sargassum Monitoring Network of Quintana Roo.
Currently, massive algae blobs are heading for the Lesser and Greater Antilles. Also, destinations like Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic have been badly impacted.
In recent months there have been a series of high-level meetings where a number of Caribbean governments, together with the private sector, have developed initiatives to fight sargassum from various angles to, hopefully, turn it into a profitable business model.
In mid-July, Mexico hosted the “Mexico-European Union National Forum 2024,” which sought to create strategies to take advantage of the biomass by mitigating its arrival in the Caribbean.
Another large corporation interested in new potential businesses is the IDB Group, which will provide “entrepreneurs, start-ups, corporations, academic institutions and non-profit organizations” with up to $500,000 to turn the problem into a business opportunity.
Sargassum-Free Beaches In The Mexican Caribbean
The Red Recolector S.A. de C.V., of Nuevo León will be tasked with collecting and properly disposing of sargassum in a landfall event. These are the destinations this company will clean:
- Isla Mujeres: Beaches that will be cleaned include Guadalupana, Isla Blanca, La Joya, Chiapanecos, Media Luna, Norte, Playa Pet, Acapulquito, Aguakan, Rito, the transfer zone, Centro, Punta Sam, Andador Trigueña, and Bachilleres.
- Puerto Morelos: Beaches or stretches that will be algae-free will include Milla Verde-Casita Blanca, Ojo de Agua-Cayuse, Pelicanos, Hacienda Morelos, Amar Inn Ojo de Agua, Arrecifes Kenwall, Kenwall-Amar Inn, Mercadito-Pelicanos, Único-Arrecifes, Bahía Petempich, Conanp, Casita Blanca Único, Cayuse-Mercadito, and Hacienda Morelos.
- Solidaridad: The beaches or stretches to be cleaned in this destination will be Caribe Beach, Punta Esmeralda, Xcalacoco, the beach on Cisne Street, the beach on Golondrinas Street, the beach on Constituyentes Avenue and the beach on Pelícanos Street.
- Tulum: The beaches that will be cleaned in this town include most of the stretches of Punta Piedra, Santa Fe, Maya, Mezzanine and Pescadores.