Sargassum crisis: Fishermen in Martinique develop solutions

A giant blob of seaweed in the Atlantic is discouraging tourists and threatening communities on the French Caribbean island of Martinique.
Mounds of free-floating sargassum wash up on beaches, and as it rots, it releases toxic gases.
Fishermen and entrepreneurs have taken matters into their own hands, coming up with a solution.

Al Jazeera’s Alexandra Byers reports more.


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[muhammadismaeeljaumeer]

I have worked on seaweed for many years and people are yet to realise its importance. This particular seaweed can be used for enhancing fertilisers, fish meals, for paper production, cups etc... Nevertheless, we should also realise that seaweed has vital ecological functions to the seawater quality and a habitat for fish and other micro and macro marine organisms.

[yolo_burrito]

I have lived in South Florida all my life and this would occasionally be a minor nuisance. Now it’s a major problem.

[sonnyeast]

Sargassum hyperbloom caused by nutrients that enter Gulf Stream currents via polluted rivers globally.
It’s not commonly used for fertilizer because it contains toxins and heavy metals which carry over to food.
While sargasso is vital for a multitude of species, and over abundance can cause massive damage to marine seabeds with grass or coral.If the light cannot penetrate because of a blanket of rotting algae, the grass and coral begin to die.
The sargasso itself is not new, the amount we are seeing is not normal.

[manuelvpr]

What these fishermen are doing is outstanding. That adaptation of their vessels is amazing, I hope the seaweed they collect will end up used in something meaningful such as fertilizer or other use.

[MrSeachaser]

The one major problem with Sargassum sea weed it is loaded with salt, so unless you are prepared to wash the salt out it can’t be used for anything especially fertilizer as the salt is deadly to plants.

[alanmctavish]

Sargassum is widely regarded as a bio-fertiliser in agriculture. This nutrient-dense macroalgae is rich in minerals, water soluble polysaccharides and phenolic compounds which collectively enhance soil health, quality, productivity and enzymatic activities.

[renoirrandy]

I live in the Caribbean and can't remember there ever this problem before 2011. It ruins all the beaches on the East coasts of the islands

[violetasettle]

I can’t imagine what could go wrong when Florida has lakes of fertilizer that leak into the Atlantic.

[aminrodriguez]

Mate, I live in Dominica Republic, same problem as in Martinique, its simple, its the best fertilizer and cattle fodder, abd easy to handle and make ready to use. Every year take a tractor with two large carriages to bring on about 2 metric tonnes of the stuff from thr beaches up to our coffee farm, there we compost it with coffee mulch residue and make fertilizer for the plantation.

[simon]

You could also feed it into a biogas plant and generate energy in the form of gas or electricity.

[kenreynolds]

There are commercial crops that are salt tolerant if you can keep it reasonable. Wash it in river water. That is a lot of nutrient that wouldn't require much fuel to turn into lots of high value fertilizer. Sun dried and baled for processing.

[somewhereinsthlm]

Collect and compost it using the very efficient worm compost method to create nutritious black soil. Use the black soil to grow vegetables, fruit and berries.

[krobbins]

I seen a story from a India tech company making biodegradable plastics and glue from seaweed . They were growing it and unsure if this can be used in it's place but if this is a recurring problem could be worth finding out.

[karlad]

I love the new technology to get the seaweed collected, but businesses should get together to combat it before it gets to their shore so it doesn’t destroy their economy. Very sad indeed 😞

[Memento-_-Mori-_-]

This is basically free organic fertilizer!

[muzammilm.nurdin]

Collect them > Spray enzymes/bacteria > Bury them > Wait for 10-20yrs > Fuel > Profit

[xevious]

When someone finds something very useful for it, a financial boon, then there wont be enough vessels to scoop it up.

[bm]

Seems to me these folks could team up with the people involved in The Ocean Cleanup project. The latter's System 3 could probably help quite a bit more than the small vessels they are using.

[honelson]

There are plenty of seaweed products origin from sargassum, ascofol, giant kelp etc selling so expansive in the fertilizer market. Couldn't believe, now it is free outside your door step

[vivavasquez]

very valuable natural fertilizer ! its a gift, use it for growing food .