Sargassum Seaweed Causing Us Stress


Sargassum Seaweed Causing Us Stress

      For the past seven years, seaweed has affected the shores of the Caribbean in many adverse ways. These issues can be categorized as economic and physical effects. These problems include aesthetic degradation, hampering leather-back turtle nesting, the disruption of the fishing industry and the putrid smell of rotting seaweed throughout the community.


Mounds of rotting seaweed on Guadeloupe in April,
HELENE VALENZUELA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
    Firstly, when we speak of aesthetic degradation along the coast of the Caribbean, it can impact tourism in a great way. In the Caribbean many islands depend on tourism as an economic stronghold. Many tourists flock to the Caribbean to embrace the “sun, sand and sea” that is popularly advertised as our main attraction. However, when mounds of seaweed accumulates upon our shores it serves as a deterrent tourists from visiting our islands. This in turn leads to economic downfall in the Caribbean and the
decrease in foreign exchange in our economy.

    Secondly, another form of tourism is also affected by the seaweed. Eco-tourism, a form of tourism that entails close interaction with the environment without causing it any harm, is a newly developing type of tourism in the Trinidad and Tobago. The leather-back turtles, one of the world’s largest turtles, choose to nest along the east coast of Trinidad between the months of March to August which also coincides with the peak season for the production of seaweed. According to the executive director of the Turtle Village Trust, Dr Allan Bachan[1], approximately sixty thousand (60,000) visitors come to Trinidad to experience the leather-back turtles nesting. However, when the shorelines are covered in seaweed the turtles are unable to nest on our shores therefore decreasing the tourism economy and affecting the nature nesting patterns of the turtles.
Leather-back Turtles Nesting
    Thirdly, many fishermen were disturbed by the mats of seaweed covering the surface of the shore and shallow waters. When the seaweed is present many fishermen unable to access their boats and they’re fishing equipment are useless in the thick seaweed. The propellers can’t spin in the accumulation of seaweed. This also impacts the economy since there would be limited fish stock for sale and for export. This also impacts the livelihoods of many whose families depend on fishing as their many source of income.

    Finally, according to the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute[2], the most cost effective way to deal with the accumulation of sargassum is to simply leaving it on the shore to rot or be washed away in the next storm. However this results in a putrid smell that usually engulfs the surrounding environment. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration[3], this rotting scent is as a result of Hydrogen Sulphide gas (H2S) being emitted from the seaweed. This is very unpleasant for the residents in those coastal communities to endure.

   To conclude, seaweed can contribute negatively to the Caribbean in many ways including: decrease in tourism, disruption of the fishing industry and making daily life along the coastline difficult to endure. These are the most prominent issues faced in the Caribbean but they are not the only ones that affect us. 

Now that we have explored the detrimental effects of sargassum seaweed in the Caribbean we will dive  into the positive outcomes of its arrival to our nations.

Sources: 
[1] - Dr Allan Bachan, Turtle Village Trust, http://turtlevillagetrust.org/speech.htm
[2] - Doyle, E. and J. Frank. 2015.Sargassum Fact Sheet. Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institution.
[3]-UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/hydrogensulfide/hazards.html




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