Saint Lucia is ramping up its response to the worsening sargassum crisis, with key discussions, foreign support and cleanup initiatives underway as the seaweed invades even previously unaffected coastlines.
The Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture recently hosted a forum to address the economic and environmental toll of the recurring blooms.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has committed assistance, including feasibility studies on sargassum reuse and specialised removal equipment to help clear the island’s shorelines.
This comes as the Caribbean faces record-breaking sargassum volumes—38 million tonnes in May alone—with more expected in June.
“The brown prickly algae is suffocating shorelines from Puerto Rico to Guyana and beyond, disrupting tourism, killing wildlife and even releasing toxic gases that forced one school in Martinique to temporarily close,” an Associated Press report said this week.
Unlike in past years, the seaweed has now spread beyond the usual eastern and southern coasts of Saint Lucia, reaching western and northern shores, and disrupting fishing, tourism and coastal communities.
Fisheries officials report that sargassum is blocking fishing grounds and reducing fish stocks, while decaying algae emit toxic gases, raising health concerns. Neighbouring French islands have deployed containment booms, a method Saint Lucia may explore.
Keith Nichols, head of special projects at Caricom’s Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, shared insights on the crisis. A former fisheries expert in Saint Lucia, Nichols noted that while small sargassum influxes were once manageable, the current volumes are unprecedented.
He suggested that nutrient-rich runoff from South American rivers, possibly intensified by increased rainfall, may be fuelling the explosive growth of sargassum.
“If the conditions are right we see an explosion of the sargassum mats and these are now brought across by ocean currents and the wind onto our shores,” Nichols explained.
He warned that while solutions like fertiliser conversion exist, the sheer volume demands larger-scale action.
“We are exploring how we can utilise some of the sargassum for other productive purposes,” he said. “It’s a lot and I don’t think we have a solution for the volume of sargassum we are seeing just yet and we haven’t fully quantified those impacts.”
While sargassum in open waters supports marine ecosystems, near-shore accumulations smother coral reefs, deplete oxygen levels and harm fisheries. Rotting sargassum also emits hydrogen sulfide gas, which can cause respiratory issues and skin irritation.
According to sargassumhub.org, Saint Lucia’s windward coast fishing communities have reported health problems linked to prolonged exposure.
However, during the recent Chamber of Commerce forum, it was indicated that data from the gas emissions levels recorded in Saint Lucia do not pose a health hazard.
Stakeholders recommended that the findings be made public. With the crisis intensifying, they also called for a coordinated national strategy to manage the seaweed’s impact before it worsens.
